The Groove Master

David Kornfeld is a Jeff Award winning composer who writes "soaring" (Chicago Sun-Times) music that seeks to be lyrical and accessible, while bringing new soundscapes into the realm of musical theatre. His blended background in classical composition, rock bands, jazz improvisation, and West African drumming infuses his eclectic works with syncopated rhythms, instantly memorable melodies, and infectious grooves, which in grad school earned him the nickname “the Groove Master.”

Three fundamental tenets guide his creative process:

  1. Try to do at least one thing in every song that I haven’t done before.

  2. “Melodies should be surprising yet inevitable.” — David’s late, great instructor,  Stephen Lutvak (attributed to Richard Rogers)

  3. No skips! — If I don’t want to listen to a song I wrote, why would anyone else want to?

“I suspect I’ll be writing his name again.”
— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune (2016)

Backstory

Growing up in rural California, David spent his days exploring the woods around his house, inventing complex and dramatic stories taking place in far-off worlds, to which he composed cinematic soundtracks, which he would sing at the top of his lungs. One of the first pieces he ever composed (at the age of 10) was meant to accompany a space-adventure video game he intended to make. Though he never learned to program computers, the theme song did become a reality. Storytelling has forever influenced his work, and when he discovered musical theatre at Carleton College, naturally he found his calling. His studies there with Alex Freeman and Mary Ellen Childs introduced him to contemporary concert music, opening up new harmonic and melodic avenues to explore. Long interested in non-western rhythms and harmonies, his studies abroad in Mali of West African music and storytelling traditions cemented that predisposition, most notably influencing the composition of his chamber work, Gilgamesh and his later grad school thesis project, Fairest.

After graduating, he made his home in the Chicago storefront theatre scene. His love of musical theatre and passion for discovering and sharing new work, as well as creating it, led him to co-found Underscore Theatre Company in Chicago, with whom he co-produced the first ever Chicago Musical Theatre Festival in 2014. He served as Underscore’s Producing Artistic Director and resident Music Director from 2011 to 2016, while at the same time freelancing as a composer, music director, accompanist, teaching artist and children's entertainer for theaters and performing groups throughout Chicagoland.

Sketch: Kailyn Kent

Sketch: Kailyn Kent

Photographer: Hanna Morrill

Photographer: Hanna K. Morrill

In 2016 David moved to New York to pursue his master's degree in the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Since graduating he has worked continuously as a pit musician, orchestrator, freelance composer and educator. During the Covid pandemic he carved out a niche for himself as a virtual performer, instructor, and audio engineer. During this time he also moved to Pittsburgh, PA, and then Birmingham, AL with his family.

Versatility

The bulk of David’s work has been in the musical theatre arena, garnering him two of his proudest achievements: the publication of his show, 57th National Mathlete Sum-It, by TRW, and his 2019 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Musical for Haymarket. Recently he and collaborator Alex Higgin-Houser attended the Drama Club Camp writers’ retreat to revise Haymarket and prepare for the next production. On the more experimental side, David participated in the Civilians R&D Group to begin developing a new experimental investigative musical with Rebecca Hart entitled Microcosmos, based on interviews with persons with neurological differences. And always a believer in not becoming limited to a single medium or genre, he recently wrapped up his first film score: SWEET MEATS, a horror comedy musical released by Troma Entertainment in 2024. And he made his pop songwriting debut collaborating with Remember Jones on the track, “won’t u be my hater?” from his 2022 album, Haha, Bitch!

As a performer, he runs the gamut from music director to jazz soloist to accompanist to pit musician. In early 2024 he closed out a year of touring as Associate Conductor & Guitar 2 with the Broadway musical, Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill, and since then has been busy making himself indispensable to the Birmingham theatre community.

Photographer: Michael Lynch

Photographer: Michael Lynch

Offstage

David lives in Birmingham, AL with his wife, singer, actress and nationally-renowned voice therapist Sarah Hoch, their daughter, and their two rescue pups, Zola and Sunny Rose, who hate everyone. Apart from music, David loves specialty coffee and all its trappings, the outdoors, cookery, and smart home gadgets (much to Sarah’s chagrin).

Awards, Nominations & Artistic Residencies

Kennedy Center Commendation

The Tempest, composer, 2012

ASCAP Young Jazz Composer's Showcase (finalist)

"¡Levántate!", composer, 2011

Sigrid and Erling Larsen Award in Creative and Performing Arts

2010, 2011

Carleton College Independent research fellowship

Grind: the (Coffee Shop, Comic Book) Musical!, 2010