Born and raised in Rochester, New York, David is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. At the age of 5 he began playing by ear on his grandfather's old beaten upright player piano. A two-time consecutive winner of DownBeat Magazine's Student Music Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Jazz Vocalist. Before moving to New York City to star in his first off-Broadway debut at Birdland Jazz Club in "Our Sinatra," he performed extensively in Rochester along with the RPO @ Eastman Theater.