Meet the Team

Born and raised in Southern California, David moved to Philadelphia for a job at the University of Pennsylvania, where he has worked happily for 34 years with communities ranging from incoming undergraduates to alumni. As NSOAI Director, he loves to welcome students to a new chapter in their lives. David is also a member of the Penn Theatre Arts faculty, where he teaches courses on modern American theater and musical theater. He is also a theatre critic and culture writer for publications including Philadelphia City Paper, Philadelphia Magazine, The New York Times, Parterre Box, and more. He has lectured for the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Opera, and appeared on Radio Times and other programs. With Cameron Kelsall, a frequent writing partner, he maintains the cultural blog, Reclining Standards. A native Los Angelino, David was part of the staff that opened the first ever Tower Classical Records store on the famous Sunset Strip. The vast LP (and later, CD) collection he built while working there still takes up half of his living room, and much of his time. His husband Simon and their animal family share this obsession.