Cello
Winner of the 2011 Grammy for best engineering of a classical composition, David Sabee enjoys a varied musical existence as cellist, conductor, contractor, producer and engineer. Sabee began cello studies at age 17 with Johan Lingeman, solo cellist of the Concertgebouw Orkest and continued with Paul Olefsky and Harvey Shapiro. While in New York, he joined the American Composers Orchestra under Dennis Russell Davies, performing world premieres of works by composers ranging from Laurie Anderson to Keith Jarrett. A founding member of the Naumburg finalist Tafelmusik, he worked with such composers as Lukas Foss, Frederic Rzewski, Charles Wuorinen and Elliot Carter. Appointed by Foss to the Milwaukee Symphony, with which he performed in many of the great European concert halls (including the Concertgebouw, London’s Barbican and Vienna’s Grosser Musikvereinsaal), he was fortunate to play for the Sergiu Celibidache in Munich.
A member of the Seattle Symphony since 1986 and founding member of the ASCAP Award-winning Seattle Chamber Players, Sabee, recipient of the Mayor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Film, also serves as Principal Conductor of the Northwest Sinfonia, and has worked on the soundtrack recording sessions of hundreds of motion pictures with a range of film composers, including Michael Kamen, Bruce Broughton, Joe Hisaishi, Carter Burwell, Elia Cmiral, Jeff Danna, John Debney, Michael Giacchino, Harry Gregson-Williams, Paul Haslinger, Steve Jablonsky, Rolfe Kent, John Murphy, David Newman, John Ottman, Basil Poledouris, Trevor Rabin, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ed Shearmur, Brian Tyler, Alex Wurman and Chris Young. Memorably, he collaborated with composer Gustavo Santaolalla and director Ang Lee on the score to Brokeback Mountain, which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, several Golden Globes and three Oscars, including Best Director and Best Original Score.
Active since the advent of video game scoring, he has contracted and/or conducted hundreds of game score sessions, including the bulk of both the World of Warcraft and Halo franchises. Sabee’s recording production company, Seattlemusic Inc., has provided technical assistance to major acts worldwide, including Pearl Jam and Screaming Trees, and has recorded such artists as Chris Cornell, Amy Winehouse, Bjork, Evanescence and Stevie Nicks. As Seattle’s premiere music contractor, he has hired orchestras for today’s leading artists, including Andrea Bocelli, Rod Stewart, Yes, The Who and The Eagles.
As a cellist, he has appeared in concert or on recordings with a long list of leading artists across genres, including Evanescence, Dave Matthews, Bill Frisell, Roy Orbison, Benny Goodman, Laurie Anderson, Jessye Norman and Chick Corea. Called “confident and colorful” by The New Yorker, Sabee’s performance of the Rachmaninov Cello in San Jose, Costa Rica, for Rachmaninov’s granddaughter was characterized byLa Nacion as “infused with insight and passion.
