David Arcus is Director of Music and Organist of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he overseas adult and junior/youth choral programs and presides at the 1883 Hook & Hastings organ in the early nineteenth century church. Since July 2018 he has also been serving as Music Director for the Raleigh Convocation Choir, an itinerant ensemble dedicated to sharing the great heritage of church music with Episcopal parishes across the Diocese of North Carolina. He previously served as Interim Director of Music at All Saints Parish Church, Northampton, England, where he conducted and played organ for seven choral services weekly. He was at Duke University for nearly 30 years, where he served in various capacities in the Department of Music, Divinity School, and Duke Chapel.
Dr. Arcus holds degrees from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the School of Music at Yale University, where he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He has received awards in composition and improvisation competitions, and he is in demand as a solo recitalist, having performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Great Britain. He has also toured with the Duke Chapel Choir in Great Britain, Poland, The Czech Republic, Spain, Greece, Turkey, and China, and he has appeared as organist with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra. He has served on the faculties of St. Mary’s School, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Dr. Arcus’ recitals have included premieres of new works by well known composers such as Aaron Jay Kernis, Dan Locklair, and Marianne Ploger. He is frequently commissioned to write new works for organ and choir, and he is also active as clinician, teacher/lecturer, and conductor. Dr. Arcus has presented workshops and masterclasses on service playing and organ improvisation for the American Guild of Organists, and he has served as Course Organist for RSCM (America) training courses, service organist for the RSCMA National Choir, and conductor for the 2018 Carolinas Trebles Chorister Festival. His compositions are published by Concordia, Hinshaw, and Wayne Leupold Editions. His CD, The Organs of Duke Chapel, is on the Gothic label.