Faculty & Staff

David Reimer

Dr. David Reimer

Office: Covenant Fine Arts Center 177

Phone: (616) 526-6259

click on the photo for a high-resolution image

Biographical Information

Violinist David Reimer is an Associate Professor of Music at Calvin College, teaching violin, chamber music, string methods and music appreciation. Dr. Reimer was appointed to the faculty in 2004 after completing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Ohio State University. While at Ohio State, he was a Graduate Teaching Associate, teaching violin and orchestral repertoire as well as coaching orchestra sectionals. His earlier training included undergraduate studies with Stephen Shipps at the North Carolina School of the Arts and Bernard Goldschmidt at the Cleveland Institute of Music (B.M. & M.M.).

Dr. Reimer’s previous teaching engagements have included Violin Faculty positions at the College of DuPage, the University of Connecticut School of the Arts, the Cleveland Institute of Music Preparatory Division and positions with the following summer music programs: Birch Creek Music Festival in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin; Chamber Music Connection Festival in Columbus, Ohio; Knollwood Music Camp in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and the Masterworks Festival.

The performing experiences of Dr. Reimer are varied. He has an extensive performing knowledge of orchestral literature acquired during 18 years of professional orchestra experience. He currently plays with the Grand Rapids Symphony and the West Shore Symphony Orchestra. He has also played with the West Virginia Symphony, the Akron Symphony, the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and as Concertmaster for the Mansfield (OH) Symphony. Dr. Reimer has been a founding member of I Solisti di Camera (Chicago-based string quartet) and the Olentangy String Quartet (Columbus, OH). He made his professional concerto debut in 1999, playing the Vivaldi “Winter” Concerto with the Mansfield Symphony, and in 2006 soloed in Vaughan Williams' "The Lark Ascending" with the Calvin College Orchestra on its tour of England. In addition to these classical venues, Dr. Reimer has performed in freelance groups behind the likes of Bob Hope, Victor Borge, Melissa Manchester, the Pointer Sisters, Randy Travis, Kathy Matea, the Lettermen and Mannheim Steamroller. He has also played in a number of musicals, including Oklahoma, South Pacific, Westside Story, The Wizard of Oz, The Music Man and Kiss Me Kate.

Dr. Reimer is a native of Nebraska and, at age 4, was one of the first Suzuki students in that state. He went on to play in a group of Suzuki student soloists with the Lincoln Symphony and was concertmaster and a concerto soloist with the Omaha Area Youth Symphony. Writing is another feature of Dr. Reimer’s work and he has a book and several articles in various stages of publication. David C. Cook has twice published bible study guides for college-aged students by him. He is married to Alyce t. Reimer, a staffworker with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and a native of Boston, Massachusetts.

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

2000-2003 The Ohio State University
Doctor of Musical Arts Degree
Studied violin with Michael Davis, orchestra with Marshall Haddock, chamber music with Michael Davis, Laurel Butler, William Conable and Caroline Hong
DMA Document:
“Violin Performance Training at Collegiate Schools of Music and Its Relevance to the Performing Professions: A Critique and Recommendation”
1984-1988 Cleveland Institute of Music
Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees
Studied violin with Paul Statsky and Bernhard Goldschmidt, orchestra with Carl Topilow and Louis Lane, chamber music with Anne Epperson and Eugene Gratovich
1982-1984 North Carolina School of the Arts
Undergraduate Studies
Studied violin with Stephen Shipps, orchestra with George Trautwein and Peter Perret, chamber music with Sally Peck and Robert Marsh

TEACHING

2005-current Masterworks Festival
Summer Festival in Winona Lake, Indiana
Faculty and member of Festival Orchestra
2004-current Calvin College Faculty, Music Department
2004 Omaha Conservatory of Music
Faculty
2000-2003 Ohio State University
Graduate Teaching Associate - Orchestra Repertoire class, orchestra sectionals and violin lessons
1998-2000 Cleveland Institute of Music
Faculty, Music Preparatory Division
1995-1997 University of Connecticut
Faculty, Community School of the Arts
1988-1994 College of DuPage
The Nation’s largest Community College, with an enrollment of 28,862, located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Faculty, Music Department - violin lessons, Master Classes and Assistant Concertmaster of the New Philharmonic
1990 Birch Creek Music Festival
Summer Festival in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin
Faculty - teaching violin lessons, coaching chamber music and orchestra sectionals

PERFORMING

Orchestral Music
- 2004-current Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra
  David Lockington, music director
- 2004-current West Shore Symphony Orchestra
  Scott Speck, music director
- 2004 Lancaster Festival Orchestra
  Gary Sheldon, music director
- 1998-2004 Akron Symphony Orchestra
  Ya-Hui Wang, music director
- 1998-2004 Mansfield Symphony Orchestra
  Andrew Sewell and Robert Franz, music directors
  Acting Concertmaster and Associate Concertmaster
- 2003-2004 West Virginia Symphony Orchestra
  Grant Cooper, music director
- 1998-2000 Canton Symphony Orchestra
  Gerhardt Zimmermann, music director
- 1995-1997 Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra
  Paul Phillips, music director
- 1989-1994 New Philharmonic (Based at the College of DuPage)
  Harold Bauer, music director
  Acting Concertmaster and Assistant Concertmaster
- 1991-1994 Lake Forest Symphony Orchestra
  Paul Anthony McRae, music director
- 1988-1994 Elgin Symphony Orchestra
  Robert Hanson, music director
- 1990-1993 Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra
  Robert Vodnoy, music director
- 1988-1994 Chicago Chamber Orchestra
  Dieter Kober, music director
- 1993 Virginia Symphony
  JoAnn Falletta, music director
- 1991 Chicago Civic Orchestra
  Michael Morgan, Victor Yampolsky and Daniel Barenboim, conductors
- 1982-1984 Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra
  Peter Perret, music director
Chamber Music
- 2000-2002 Olentangy String Quartet
  Graduate String Quartet of The Ohio State University
  Violin I and Founding Member
- 1992-1994 I Solisti di Camera
  Violin I and Founding Member of String Quartet
- 1990-1993 Kairos String Quartet
  Substitute Violin I
- 1979-1988 Reimer Trio
  Violinist and Founding Member of Piano Trio
Solo Music
- 2006 "The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams
  Calvin College Orchestra tour of England, Robert Nordling, conducting
- 1998 “Winter” from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi
  Mansfield Symphony Orchestra, Richard Wink
  conducting
- 1982 Concerto No. 5 in A major by Mozart
  Omaha Area Youth Symphony, David Hagy conducting
Recitals
- 2005 Recital on Bach's Lunch Series at the St. Cecilia Music Society
  Works by Bach, Mozart and Vaughan Williams
- 2005 Recital on Music at Mid-day Series at Park Congregational Church
  Works by Brahms, Messiaen, and Stravinsky
- 2005 Faculty Recital at Calvin College
  Works by Brahms, Messiaen, and Stravinsky