picture of David Geist

About

I’m Like
Keith Jarrett
Meets
Michael Feinstein.

Or Steven Tyler meets Marvin Hamlisch. Or Chris Botti meets CATS.

My father was a product of New York in the 40s and 50s—an elegant man with an assured sense of style. I was raised to love romance, drama, class.

I graduated from Berklee College of Music, and studied privately in New York with Kenny Werner, who held me to a standard of “effortless mastery.”

I fell in love with the Great American Songbook—melodies and structures and moods that are rooted in a specific era but retain the power to move us, heal us, help us dream. It might sound a little grand, but I think of myself as part of a lineage. 

I played in and conducted orchestras on and off Broadway, working with composers like Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber; performing with singers like Hugh Jackman, Sarah Brightman, and Michael Crawford; joining shows like LES MISERABLES, THE LION KING, WICKED, and CATS.

Now I live in Sante Fe, a stunning setting for music, with a romance all its own (it's also got a great alternative paper, the Santa Fe Reporter, which asked me 20 questions). I travel to perform at venues around the country, to teach master classes at colleges and universities, and to serve as a vocal coach for established and upcoming singers. I compose and produce my own music—original compositions that bring together all of my influences and shape them into something new and fiery and deeply felt.

And throughout the year, I host Pranzo’s Geist Cabaret, a gathering of friends and fans and legends. We come together to tell stories, sing songs, and fall in love all over again with the music that first made us believe.