Dave Dexter

“A gem that really captures your heart – really accomplished, complex writing for strings.” — Jessica Curry

Dave Dexter (b. UK, 1985) came to composing relatively late, without formal music education, by unsuccessfully entering a contest with the Liverpool Philharmonic in 2015. The rejection spurred him into a long period of self-tuition in composition, engraving, and orchestration — by the following year he had recorded his first works with string quartet, then orchestra and choir, and finally a full symphony orchestra in 2018.

Thanks to the shortness of his career, his achievement list is likewise; airplay with UK’s Classic FM and BBC Radio 3, a performance in Singapore, and a place in ORA Singer’s 2019 “Christmas Gift” recording initiative. His music — described as “beautiful” (Anthony Inglis), “fantastic” (Suzi Digby OBE), and “a joy to listen to” (Grant Kirkhope) — is typified by a paranoid attention to detail, meticulous orchestration and a sense of traditional grandeur, excitement and beauty. More invested in music’s past than present, Dexter moves with ease between full-throated orchestral tone poems, classical minuets and inventions, works for baroque ensemble, and Renaissance choral polyphony

Dexter lives in North Yorkshire, dividing time between music, walking, and bothering his cat. Full recordings, session footage and scores can be found at davedexter.com