ASU music alumnus appointed assistant professor at Ithaca College

David Earll graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in tuba performance from ASU in 2014.

By Lynne MacDonald |
April 20, 2018

David Earll, Arizona State University School of Music alumnus, has been appointed assistant professor of tuba and euphonium at the Ithaca College School of Music in New York, beginning fall 2018.

Earll graduated from ASU with a Master of Music degree in 2011 and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in tuba performance in 2014. He is currently an assistant professor of tuba, euphonium and trombone at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville.

Earll said he was drawn to the tuba as a middle school student due to the sheer size of the instrument, but in high school fell in love with the sound, the range and the breadth of expression found in the tuba and euphonium. After voraciously listening to tuba and euphonium albums, Earll said he realized that many of his biggest heroes were his music teachers and the performers on his albums. He said he knew then that he wanted to embark on a journey to become that same type of hero for other young musicians.

“My time in the ASU School of Music was a period of amazing personal and musical growth in my life,” said Earll. “In 2013, Professor Deanna Swoboda invited me to join her on a tour, which culminated in a collaborative and solo performance at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. This tour marked my first international appearance as a soloist, chamber musician and clinician and sparked my interest in traveling the world in order to perform and teach.”

Earll has since performed throughout the world — the United States, Hong Kong, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and the Netherlands. In 2016 he received the prestigious Clifford Bevan Award for Excellence in Research by the International Tuba Euphonium Association for his ASU doctoral project and is recognized as a Willson Tuba Artist.

“David’s work as an ASU graduate student was exemplary,” said Swoboda, associate professor in the ASU School of Music. “He was my first graduate teaching assistant, and it was an absolute pleasure to serve as his professor and mentor. David is a truly artistic scholar who has since carved a path for himself as a world class tuba artist, scholar and educator.”