David Warrack
Composer, Conductor, Pianist, and Orchestrator
AFM (Local 149); Canadian Actors Equity Association; ACTRA; Dramatists Guild; Playwrights Union of Canada; SOCAN

“Most impressive … Mr. Warrack is a major talent who is welcome in our town.” (Barnes, New York Times) …”Masterful Music Direction!” (Chapman, Toronto Star)

As Conductor and Musical Director, David has worked with orchestras and bands across North America. He toured for years with the legendary Maureen Forrester, and they released a CD of songs he wrote for her entitled “Interpretations of a Life”. As Music Director for well over 250 musicals, including the Canadian tour of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well …, Closer Than Ever (for which he won a Dora, the Canadian equivalent of the Tony), the first Canadian production of A Chorus Line, Shenandoah on Broadway with John Cullum, and nine seasons of Ross Petty’s Christmas pantomimes at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, Mr. Warrack is constantly in demand. Most recently, he did a gala tribute to Oscar Hammerstein at the Hummingbird Centre in Toronto with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa for a set of concerts featuring Natalie McMaster and the Men of the Deeps, and conducted the Kitchener/Waterloo Symphony in a three-concert Latin extravaganza featuring an entirely new program which he orchestrated specifically for this magnifient ensemble. Starting in 2005, David became the resident Musical Director for Jeff Hyslop’s Showcase Summer Theatre on Vancouver Island (he will be returning for the third season in 2007). In 2003, he formed the 60-piece Canada Pops Orchestra, which CBC Radio’s Andy Barrie commended as “the first orchestra I have ever heard which could present everything from the classical repertoire right through to jazz with equal joy and mastery!”. The Canada Pops has performed at Massey Hall, the Hummingbird Centre, the Toronto Centre For The Arts, and Nathan Phillips Square as part of Toronto’s Downtown Jazz Festival. In addition, in April of 2006, David began his tenure as Music Director for Hillcrest Christian Church in Toronto.

“Brilliant – only once have I heard his equal and that was the American Legend Roger Kellaway.” (Currie, Orangeville Record) … “…internationally recognized pianist and comedian.” (Hill, Guelph Mercury)…”…dramatic rendition of “Rhapsody in Blue. Warrack’s effortless embellishments and massive rush of thick chords gave way to a dynamic performance!” (Merpaw, Brockville Review)

David has performed in clubs, concert halls, and theatres, as well as on television, radio, recordings and films. He was featured in a tribute to Duke Ellington at the Montreal Bistro; his two most recent appearances as a solo pianist were at Roy Thompson Hall and the Princess of Wales Theatre. Television specials include Global Television’s Peter Allen and David Warrack: Composer Meets Composer. For years, he was a regular feature on Peter Gzowski’s Morningside (CBC Radio) singing his trademark satirical songs. Some of those songs are featured on his new comedy CD Euphoric Warrack, to be released in June of 2007. As accompanist to the stars, he has worked with Len Cariou, Glynis Johns, and Mickey Rooney. He continues to do concerts with a selection of major talents, including Thom Allison, Elizabeth Beeler, Michael Burgess, Mark Dubois, Don Harron, Jeff Hyslop, Fred Love, Louise Pitre, and gospel diva Jackie Richardson.

“Warrack’s orchestral arrangements … are clean, inventive, and extremely clever.” (Pederson, Halifax Mail-Star)

As arranger and orchestrator, David has a demanding schedule. Virtually all of the orchestrations for the Canada Pops Orchestra are David’s, as well as those of his 18-piece Canada Pops Jazz Band. For the nine years that he was Musical Director for Ross Petty’s madcap pantomimes, David also did the arrangements and orchestrations. His first major assignment was for the CBC Radio special of the musical Ballade, and he is currently scoring a CD for the Canada Pops Jazz Band featuring his own jazz songs.

“Producer Extraordinaire” (Mallet, Toronto Star)

David has produced plays, musicals and variety shows for theatre and television as a complement to his artistic achievements. Warrack Productions has mounted shows performed across Canada and the U.S.A. The television superspecial All For One (CBC Television) was an instant classic. David produced three of the Dora Mavor Moore Award Shows, the only three televised to date. At one point he had six shows running in Toronto simultaneously. His legendary production of TORONTO TORONTO garnered him his first Dora Mavor Moore Award as a producer (followed quickly by ON TAP). In December, 2005, he presented Ronnie Hawkins at Massey Hall in his triumphant “I’m Back!” concert. Last summer, he produced his own musical ROB ROY, a huge hit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and he is currently recording the CD for that project. He has been musical consultant and/or arranger and/or composer and/or studio producer for various films (SUPERSTAR, PUSHING TIN), television specials (DuMAURIER SEARCH FOR STARS) and CD’s (THE GINGER GROUP).

“David Warrack is a man of astonishing versatility … a human rainbow of theatrical aptitudes. Warrack, like Noel Coward and Cole Porter, is gifted with the ability to write lyrics of the same high quality as his music. The result is song after song in which the beguiling melody and infectious rhythm carry meters and rhymes of brilliant linkage and comical complexity.” (Porter, Toronto Sun)

David has an extensive catalogue of compositions including orchestral music, choral pieces, chamber works, and a Mass for choir, soloists, and organ. However, he is best recognized for his huge volume of work for the theatre. He has written or collaborated on over seventy professionally-produced musicals or revues over the past thirty years, including some of the longest-running shows in Canadian theatre history. Cast recordings include Oops! Tut Tut, Torontosaurus, Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks, and A Kidsmas Carol, with individual songs from various shows featured on a multitude of recordings. Long-running shows include Tease For Two, Flicks, Sweet Reason and Vaudevillians. His musical She’s No Lady is currently in pre-production as an animated film, and The Magic Of Music, a collection of 39 of Warrack’s over 2,000 songs, had a triumphant production this past summer in Port Dalhousie, Ontario. Catwalk was showcased as part of Toronto Fashion Week, and I Just Dance was presented in November as part of Scriptlab’s inaugural Toronto Musical Theatre Festival. He has been commissioned by Showcase Summer Theatre to write a new musical based on the life of Ginger Goodwin, which will be workshopped in Vancouver in the fall of 2007 in anticipation of it’s premiere production as part of the 2008 Festival season.

Mr. Warrack lives in Toronto with his remarkably talented wife, pianist, composer and musical director Lona Davis. He considers his three children – Gordon, Cayleigh, and Levi – to be the most important achievements of his life.