David Dusing

1943 - 2014
DAVID DUSING, 71, passed away peacefully on May 14, 2014 at his home in New York City, after a long struggle with Parkinson's Disease. He was born March 22, 1943 in Pemberville, Ohio, and grew up in Toledo. He studied music at Mount Union College (Class of 1966) and New England Conservatory of Music, and after graduating taught conducting at the Conservatory. He then moved to New York, where he enjoyed a lively and active career.

As singer, he performed with Robert Shaw, Norman Luboff, and Robert DeCormier, among others. He was an accomplished composer and arranger of choral works. David performed in concerts and Broadway shows around the world alongside performers like Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Garrison Keillor, and a bevy of vocal music royalty. For many years he appeared regularly in a cabaret song program with composer and satirist Peter Schickele, and, with Schickele's alter ego P.D.Q. Bach, performed with orchestras throughout the country. You've heard him on movie soundtracks and more than 130 recordings, and his arrangements are widely performed by professional groups, church choirs and schools today. He formed and directed his own group, The Dusing Singers, as well as conducting annual performances of music theater at the Muse Machine in Dayton, Ohio.

Working with noted director and choreographer, Nat Horne, the team of Nat-n-David sculpted Muse Machine productions for 20 years, lifting them to ever-greater popularity. David music directed and co-directed most of the Muse musicals. He also co-created the Muse summer concerts and arranged almost every piece of music for those concerts during his long tenure there. His obituary in the Dayton Muse Minute read, in part: "While David's expertise might have been expected from his pedigree, his musicians here have expressed how, through his endless support and patience, his keen ear and good humor, he has affected performances unlike other mentors. Many young singers under his guidance have gone on to careers on stage and credit David for his loving direction and inspiration... Goodbye, friend. You have forever shaped this place."

He is survived by an uncle and a several cousins in Ohio, and a loving community of friends, performers and musicians across the country. Memorial donations may be made to The Muse Machine of Dayton, Ohio; or to any of several New York organizations who generously assisted David in his last year: the Actors Fund, MusiCares, The Musicians Foundation, the Bagby Foundation for the Musical Arts, and The Melvin Weinstein Parkinson's Foundation.