Principal Conductor

David Hoyt studied piano with Boris Roubakine, Karl Engel, and Alexandra Munn; French horn with Philip Farkas, Pierre del Vescovo, and Eugene Rittich; and conducting with Franco Maninno, Kurt Sanderling, and Pierre Boulez.

David joined the Edmonton Symphony while a student at the University of Alberta, becoming principal horn in 1975. He also played horn with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, the Chuck Mangione Band, the Hamilton Philharmonic, and the Toronto Symphony as principal horn for several months, and with l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in Carnegie Hall.

David began conducting professionally in 1982, becoming assistant conductor of the Edmonton Symphony in 1985 and of the Canadian Opera Company in 1991. He has been guest conductor with many orchestras and ensembles in Canada and the USA.

His long-standing association with The Banff Centre began in 1972, when he was a member of the summer festival orchestra. Since 1978, Hoyt has returned to the Centre annually as a visiting artist and faculty in the summer, fall, and winter sessions. David spent ten years teaching horn at the University of Alberta, and has taught across the country at many festivals and music camps.

As the head of Education and Outreach at the Edmonton Symphony, David expanded the Symphony for Kids, Education Concerts, and Pops Series, and he founded the On the Edge Series and the very popular Symphony Under the Sky Festival. He was artistic director/executive director of Music & Sound at The Banff Centre in 2004-2005.