Dave Soldier

photo Dave Soldier played violin in Western swing bands and guitar in rhythm and blues groups, including Bo Diddley, and studied composition with Roscoe Mitchell before moving to New York City in the early 80's, where he studied composing privately with Otto Luening. He founded the seminal punk chamber group the Soldier String Quartet (1985), and punk Delta blues band the Kropotkins (1992), the first orchestra for animals, the Thai Elephant Orchestra (Lampang, 2000), the Andalusian dance band The Spinozas (2004), and Da Hiphop Raskalz, in which 5-10 year olds in East Harlem write and play their own compositions (2004).

In addition to the repertoire for the above perorming groups, Soldier's compositions include The People's Choice Music: The Most Wanted and Unwanted Songs, following poll results of likes and dislikes of the American population, in collaboration with the Russian expatriate artists Komar &  Melamid; collaborations with Kurt Vonnegut; repertoire for musically naïve children or performed on specially designed instruments by songbirds and pygmy chimpanzees; various song cycles/oratorios/operas; arrangements for many pop groups including John Cale, David Byrne, and Guided by Voices, and TV and film soundtracks, including I Shot Andy Warhol and Sesame Street. Soldier's Symphony #1 was recently recorded by the Thai Elephant Orchestra.

Click a release for info and music:


Tangerine Awkestra
Aliens Took My Mom


Dave Soldier
Chamber Music


Dave Soldier / Rebecca Cherry / Winsome Brown
The Complete Victrola Sessions


Dave Soldier & Da Hip Hop Raskalz

The Thai Elephant Orchestra
Water Music


The Thai Elephant Orchestra
Elephonic Rhapsodies


The Kropotkins
Five Points Crawl


Kurt Vonnegut and Dave Soldier
Ice 9 Ballads


Soldier String Quartet
Inspect for Damaged Gods


Robert Dick and Soldier String Quartet
Jazz Standards on Mars


Komar & Melamid and Dave Soldier
The People's Choice: Music


Soldier String Quartet
She's Lightning When She Smiles


Dave Soldier
Smut


Dave Soldier / Kurt Vonnegut / Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
Soldier Stories


The Thai Elephant Orchestra

Yol K'u (Inside the Sun)
Mayan Mountain Music


Dave Soldier with Walter Hilse
Organum


Dave Soldier/Jonathan Kane
Soldier Kane

Dave Soldier/Steven Beck
In Black and White
Music for Piano Solo
In Four Color
PUBLIQuartet / Soldier String Quartet
In Four Color
Music for String Quartet

Dave Soldier
The Eighth Hour of The Amduat
Brad Garton & Dave Soldier
The Brainwave Music Project
Dave Soldier
Naked Revolution
A Russian Opera

Dave Soldier
Zajal


Visit Dave Soldier's homepage for more information