David Langlitz

At the age of 21, and while still in his third year at Juilliard, David Langlitz won the position of Principal Trombonist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York, thus becoming the youngest principal player in a major orchestra in the United States and around the world. He would hold this position for over 30 years. His extensive education achievements include both Bachelors and Masters degrees from Juilliard and an MFA in filmmaking from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts. David has played to the baton of the most legendary conductors in recent history, including Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Valery Gergiev, Carlos Kleiber, James Levine Riccardo Muti, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Georg Solti and Daniel Barenboim. A several time Grammy Award winner, his regular appearances on the Metropolitan Opera "Live in HD" broadcasts have offered a worldwide platform, and his performances as soloist and in chamber music ensembles (including the prestigious Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society) have garnered positive reviews throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. The New York Times reviewed his solo performance of Luciano Berio's Sequenza V at Carnegie Recital Hall as "witty and technically brilliant." He is a brass coach on the faculty of the Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland during July. David Langlitz is also an award-winning writer/director whose films have screened at domestic and international film festivals, including Sundance, Tribeca, Paris ShortCuts, St Petersburg Russia, Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, and the Houston International Film Festival. David holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied directing in master class with Arthur Penn and editing with Spike Lee. He also benefited from private studies with Harold Guskin, and his screenwriting skills were honed under the instruction of Yale Film and Media Studies Professor Marc Lapadula. David Langlitz wrote and directed "Angel Passing," starring Hume Cronyn, Teresa Wright, Calista Flockhart, and Elaine Tse. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was highly acclaimed, going on to win numerous awards throughout the US and internationally, including the Time/Warner Award. Angel Passing screened nationwide on PBS and also on French television channels in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Canada, and was accepted into the UCLA California Sundance Film Archive in 2012. Continuing to add to his filmmaking catalog, he would go on to direct the feature film "Mentor," starring Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner, Nighthawks). Mentor premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and has streamed on Turner Movie Classics. Since the essence of film is, by its very nature, a highly collaborative art form, David strives to create an environment where actors are encouraged to bring their creativity to the set. This approach has earned the actors in his films numerous awards. In 2002, David produced and directed "Songs for Sophia," featuring Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, and Frederica VonStade. This documentary short pays homage to the fundraising event held at New York's Waldorf Astoria for the Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) Foundation, an organization conducting research to find a cure for the rare disease that afflicts children. In 2019 David was a Producer on the award-winning film "Saving Robin Williams."