David Antony Lofton

Master Vocal Coach

David Antony Lofton is a native Philadelphian and a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied piano accompanying with Dr. Vladimir Sokoloff. While at Westminster Choir College he developed his choral conducting skills and studied the organ. He has served as artistic director of Opera North (Opera Ebony) and as conductor of La traviata, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Faust, L’elisir d’amore, Die Zauberflöte, Susannah, and Der Vampyr for Mozart & Friends Opera Company.While at Curtis, he was the accompanist and vocal coaching apprentice of the late Todd Duncan for eight years.

He has been a recital collaborator for many renowned singers including, Stephen Costello, Ailyn Pérez, Marietta Simpson, Angela Brown, Indra Thomas, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Eglise Gutiérrez, Burak Bilgili, John Packard and Othalie Graham. He has also served as coach and accompanist for the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition and participated in the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy, where he was assistant conductor for televised productions of Carmen and Amahl and the Night Visitors, staged by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti himself.  Mr. Lofton has performed as a pianist in both solo and chamber music performances. He appeared as piano soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the New Jersey MasterChorale. He has conducted full concerts of operatic and symphonic music including one with the famed Harlem Boys Choir at Carnegie Hall and Hansel and Gretel with the University of Minnesota at Duluth.

Prior to joining the AVA faculty, he began a ten-year period as faculty member of the Curtis Institute of Music and was also on the faculty at the Combs College of Music. Aside from being a conductor and accomplished pianist, Mr. Lofton has composed spanish music for television commercials and served as a vocal consultant for Sony Recordings. Three times he was chosen to conduct “Opera on the Square” for Sunoco’s Welcome America Celebration. In 2010 Mr. Lofton made his debut with Opera Delaware conducting Puccini’s La bohème. He is Music Director of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Elkins Park, which presents a series of recitals each year with AVA artists. This May and December he returns to Las Palmas, Canary Islands for recitals.

David Antony Lofton has been the exclusive Music Director and Conductor of AVA’s Jubilate for twenty-one years.