Internationally renowned guitarist, David Tanenbaum, has become one of the most sought after and highly esteemed guitarists of his generation. An outstanding artist and charismatic teacher, he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Australia, Russia and Asia. He was the first American to be invited by the Chinese Government to perform in China. He has been soloist with prominent orchestras around the world including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Oakland Symphony, London Sinfonietta and Vienna's ORF orchestra, performing with such eminent conductors as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano and John Adams. He has been featured at many leading international festivals, including those of Vienna, Frankfurt, Barcelona and Bath as well as numerous guitar festivals.

While David Tanenbaum’s repertoire encompasses a wide diversity of musical styles, he is recognized as one of the most eloquent proponents of contemporary guitar repertoire. In 1989, as President of the Second American Classical Guitar Congress, he commissioned five new works, including Rosewood by Henry Brant for guitar orchestra, which he has conducted more than a dozen times in Europe and Australia. Among the many works composed for him are Hans Werner Henze's guitar concerto: An Eine €olsharfe, which he premiered at the Lucerne Festival, performed throughout Europe and recorded with the composer conducting; four works by Pulitzer Prize-winner Aaron Jay Kernis; two pieces by Roberto Sierra, and a suite by Lou Harrison. Terry Riley composed his first two guitar pieces for David Tanenbaum and they are currently working on a series of 24 new works for guitar. He has toured extensively with Steve Reich and Musicians and performed in Japan in 1991 at the invitation of Toru Takemitsu. He has had a long association with the Ensemble Modern and is currently a member of the World Guitar Ensemble. As a chamber musician he has collaborated with the Kronos, Shanghai, Alexander and Chester String Quartets and guitarist Manuel Barrueco.

In October 2004, David Tanenbaum appeared with the San Francisco Symphony in John Adams’ Naïve and Sentimental Music. In Februiary 2005 he performed with San Francisco’s New Century Chamber Orchestra, playing Aaron Jay Kernis' Concierto de Dance Hits with Kernis conducting, and Astor Piazzolla’s Double Concerto for guitar, bandoneon and strings with Jorge Trivisanno.

Both concerti were recorded for a CD to be released in 2006. March brought performances of Rodrigo’s Concietro Aranjuez with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and a memorial tribute to his teacher Aaron Shearer in New York City. This season also brought a tour with the World Guitar Ensemble and performances as far-ranging as Santa Fe, Potsdam, NY, Cardiff and Cologne.

David Tanenbaum can be heard on some thirty recordings on EMI, New Albion, Ars Musici, Rhino, GSP, Albany, Audiofon , Bayer and Acoustic Music Records among other labels.. His Nonesuch recording of John Adam's Naive and Sentimental Music with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic was nominated for a 2002 Grammy as "Best New Composition."

David Tanenbaum is currently Chair of the Guitar Department at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He has written three books, The Essential Studies, which analyze the etudes of Sor, Carcassi and Brouwer and compliment his recordings of those works on GSP, and his chapter on the Revival of the Classical Guitar in the 20th Century, which appears in the Cambridge Companion to the Guitar.

Critical acclaim

John Adams’ Naïve and Sentimental Music, San Francisco Symphony, Alan Gilbert:

"The frighteningly beautiful slow-movement unfolds in lush, flowing harmonies, like the pasacaglia at the center of Adams' Violin Concerto; a steel-stringed guitar, played with gently incisive phrasing by David Tanenbaum, offers a bright solo line."

San Francisco Chronicle - October 22, 2004

Solo recital, Portland Guitar Festival, Portland, OR:

"This year’s festival opened with a concert by the phenomenal David Tanenbaum. Tanenbaum gave a quietly mind-blowing performance. To call him a master of the instrument seems like faint praise - he’s among the finest musicians on any instrument you’ll ever hear, one of those rare players whose technical and interpretive skills are both of the highest order. As a demonstration of both his head and his hands, the program was brilliantly chosen. His counterpoint was lucid and his ornaments were clean; he took rhythms graciously while savoring the music’s abundant dissonances. Pieces by three 20th-century composers offered a demonstration of just how deft Tanenbaum is. Tanenbaum tamed even the obvious challenges of the Henze with fluid finger-work hat elicited every possible color from the guitar, and gave vibrant life to the angular, expressive portraits."

Portland Oregonian - March 10, 2004

Kernis Concierto de Dance Hits, New Century Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco:

Headline: "Guitarist’s Grace Brightens Chamber Orchestra concert" - "Thursday night’s concert was starting to sink into the doldrums until guitarist David Tanenbaum arrived to give the proceedings a much-needed spark. The easy grace and sharp intelligence of Tanenbaum’s playing are old news yet always welcome. Those qualities illuminated the solo parts and seemed to inspire the ensemble to new heights. Tanenbaum gave the piece plenty of spirit and care."

San Francisco Chronicle - February 19, 2000

"Over the last thirty years, no one has done more for new music on the guitar than David Tanenbaum, Henze, Riley, Harrison and Kernis have all found champion, friend and interpreter in Tanenbaum. The great spaces in these works are a test for any guitarist - but Tanenbaum maintains a larger musical conception of these works that keeps centered in the work."

David Tanenbaum on CD:

Lou Harrinson Serenado, New Albion Records: Fono-Forum - April 2004