Cellist David Bender joined The Florida Orchestra in January 2023.  David received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from The Juilliard School as a student of Joel Krosnick and Natasha Brofsky.

Originally from Nashville, Tenn., David began studying the cello at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music at the age of 5. In 2016, he was selected to be a part of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the USA, where he performed throughout Europe under the baton of Valery Gergiev and Christoph Eschenbach as principal cellist. In 2017, David was featured on NPR’s “From the Top,” hosted by Christopher O’Riley.

David has attended a number of prestigious summer festivals including the Music Academy of the West and the Taos School of Music. As a winner of the 2018 Keston MAX fellowship at Music Academy of the West, David was awarded the opportunity to perform three concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle. An avid chamber musician, David has studied with the Juilliard, Brentano, American, Shanghai, and Jupiter string quartets.

David has performed under the direction of David Robertson, Alan Gilbert, and Marin Alsop as principal cellist of the Juilliard Orchestra. A recipient of the Gluck Community Fellowship, David engaged in musical outreach to various hospitals, nursing homes and cancer treatment centers throughout New York City.

David plays on a contemporary cello made by Peter Goodfellow, generously on loan from the Virtu Foundation.