David Kirkwood, DMA

School of Fine Arts
Music
  • Associate Professor of Music
  • Chair, Department of Music
  • Program Coordinator for Vocal Performance (BM)

Education

  • DMA – Vocal Arts, University of Southern California
  • MM – Voice Performance, Peabody Institute of Music of The Johns Hopkins University
  • BM – Music Performance, Biola University

Courses Taught

  • Applied Voice
  • Lyric Diction in English
  • Lyric Diction in Italian
  • Lyric Diction in French
  • Lyric Diction in German
  • Vocal Literature I
  • Vocal Literature II
  • Music Appreciation
  • Advanced Studies in Music

Teaching Focus

Professor Kirkwood’s primary teaching focus is bel canto vocal pedagogy, English art song, German Lieder, and performance practice.

Publications

Professor Kirkwood performs Oratorio and solo recitals in the Greater Houston Area.  He is an active member of the National Assocation of Teachers of Singing (NATS), and he serves as Treasurer for the Greater Houston Chapter of NATS.

Awards and Honors

Dr. Kirkwood is an alumnus of the country’s premier professional development program for vocal pedagogy, the NATS Intern Program, where he studied with Master Teacher Lynn Helding.  He has a long history of student success in vocal competitions, and his students have been accepted to top graduate programs in the country: Yale, Indiana University, UNT, Rice, De Paul, etc.  Former students have sung at the Wiener Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, Santa Fe, and Operalia.

Additional Information

Professor Kirkwood previously taught at Biola University with the Torrey Honors College and the Biola Conservatory of Music.
His personal interests include reading theology, fiction and classic literature; learning more Greek and Latin; and spending time with his wife and three children.