David Spelman

David Spelman (born 1966 in Washington, D.C., United States) is an American, New York-based, record producer and curator working in recordings, films and live events

Spelman was educated at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the New England Conservatory, where he was selected as one of the one-hundred most distinguished alumni, as part of the Centenary Celebration of Jordan Hall. At the Peabody Institute he studied renaissance lute with Ronn McFarlane, and performed in the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble. At the New England Conservatory he was a student of classical guitarists David Leisner and Robert Paul Sullivan.

In a 2009 interview, with Allan Kozinn, published in the New York Times Sunday Arts & Leisure, Spelman discussed the influence of classical guitarist and composer Benjamin Verdery, whom he had first encountered in a master class in Santa Cruz, California.

In the 1980s, Spelman trained in acoustic guitar design and construction under Jeff Trougott, the Santa Cruz-based luthier known for making custom acoustic guitars for musicians including Charlie Hunter and John Mayer.

Spelman is the son of Seymour J. Spelman, a labor lawyer and government attorney who ran for Congress in Montgomery County, Maryland, in 1966 as a peace candidate. He is the brother of Judith Spelman, an R.N. and health care advocate, who has authored several legislative bills including “Cal-Care,” a universal health care proposal. He is the cousin of Ron Balin, who co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., in 1961, one of the nation’s first homosexual civil rights organizations.

Together with author and WNYC Radio host John Schaefer, Spelman founded the New York Guitar Festival in 1999. The festival's first season included just three concerts at Merkin Concert Hall, but in later years expanded to include venues throughout the city, including Carnegie Hall, The World Financial Center Winter Garden, The 92nd Street Y, Joe's Pub, The Jazz Standard, Le Poisson Rogue, Flushing Town Hall, Makor, BB King Blues Club, The Monkey, Barbes, The Apple Store theater in SoHo, and various pop-up venues. The festival attracts recognition in the international media, has built partnerships with leading NPR stations for live radio broadcasts, and assisted in the launch of sister festivals in the United States, Europe, Canada and Australia[2]. Spelman serves as the festival's Artistic Director.

...
Wikipedia