David Carlson (born 13 March 1952) is an American composer.

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Carlson studied theory and composition at the Los Angeles High School of the Arts and with Leonard Stein at the California Institute of the Arts. From 1988 to 1992 he was coordinator of the San Francisco Symphony's New and Unusual Music series.^[1]

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David Carlson's symphonic works have been performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (United States), the San Francisco Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Festival, and others. He has composed several chamber pieces, including a Cello Sonata, a large work for cello and male chorus called Nocturno, and two cello concertos, as well as a large work for viola and piano called True Divided Light, premiered in 2005. Carlson is the recipient of an Academy Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two commissions from Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, and several other grants and fellowships. He has written four operas, three of which have had numerous performances. The Midnight Angel, to a libretto and original story by author Peter S. Beagle, was commissioned by Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Glimmerglass Opera, and Sacramento Opera; in 2007 it received a new production by Milwaukee's Skylight Opera Theatre. Dreamkeepers, with an original story and libretto by Aden Ross, was commissioned by the Utah Opera in celebration of the 1996 Utah Centennial and given a new production by the Tulsa Opera in 1998. Anna Karenina, in collaboration with noted British librettist and director Colin Graham, was commissioned by Florida Grand Opera in celebration of the 2007 opening of the Ziff Opera House in Miami, with a co-production by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Anna Karenina received a new production in September 2010 by Opera San Jose, and was performed again in April 2016 by Moores Opera Center at the University of Houston.

• New World Records CD: Symphonic Sequences from Dreamkeepers/Rhapsodies/Twilight Night/Cello Concerto No. 1; Stewart Robertson, conductor; Emil Miland, cello; The Utah Symphony.
• Signum Records CD (London): Anna Karenina, Opera in Two Acts, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Stewart Robertson, conductor; The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra
• MSR Classics CD (U.S.): "True Divided Light" for Viola and Piano/Sonata for Cello and Piano, Geraldine Walther, viola; Emil Miland, cello; David Korevaar, piano. MS1283
• The Opera America Songbook: "Himmelfarbenlied," Kelly Ann Bixby, soprano; Thomas Bagwell, piano. Lyrics by Susan Kinsolving. Available on Amazon. Sheet music published by Schott, New York.