Selected Projects
Projects reflecting David Hattner’s work in multimedia performance, artistic collaboration, new concert formats, and the development of new repertoire.
Voices of Light
Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light, performed live with Carl Theodor Dreyer’s silent-film masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, has been a recurring project in David Hattner’s work. In 2006, he conducted the work in New York City, coordinating the live performance with the film without click tracks or synchronization technology. He returned to the project in Portland in 2018, conducting the complete film-and-orchestra presentation.
“David Hattner synchronized the musical performance with the screening of the film effortlessly and led the musical forces in passionate, vital performances, which were received with enormous enthusiasm by the large audiences. He also possesses a rare quality - the ability to create an atmosphere that enables the performers to do their very best: to take risks and to make music that moves people.”
— Susan Narucki, soprano
Site Specific Dances
In 2023, Hattner conducted Site Specific Dances in New York, a multimedia collaboration combining live music, dance, and video. All of the music heard in the performance space was performed live, while the projected video had been created in advance using recorded performances. Hattner reproduced the tempos of those recordings in live performance, synchronizing the musicians with the pre-edited video.
David Hattner conducts Site Specific Dances, New York, 2023.
Piano Recital with Orchestra
Developed with pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, Piano Recital with Orchestra reimagines the traditional piano recital as an orchestral experience. Works of varying scale for piano and orchestra are assembled in the manner of a recital program, with the orchestra serving as an integral musical partner throughout. Soloist and conductor introduce each work in conversation with the audience, providing context and connecting the individual pieces into a larger musical narrative.
The world premiere of Bruce Stark’s Mischief Dance, with Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, David Hattner, and Camerata PYP, January 2025.
Commissioning and New Music
Commissioning and performing new music has been a central part of David Hattner’s work, including more than thirty works created through PYP’s Youth Orchestra Commissioning Initiative as well as premieres, recordings, and continuing collaborations with composers.