David Donnelly

DAVID DONNELLY

David Donnelly is an award-winning American filmmaker, speaker, writer, poet, entrepreneur, and artist. He has written, directed, and produced music videos, video installation art, short films, and feature-length documentaries. He has worked with NY times best-selling authors, Grammy winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Hollywood A-list talent. His work has been featured in countless publications including Forbes, Playbill, and NPR. Donnelly’s educational films are utilized in thousands of classrooms across North America. In February of 2018 he directed Live from Lincoln Center-Chinese New Year: Year of the Dog starring the New York Philharmonic, which was broadcast to millions of Chinese viewers. 

In late 2015, Donnelly released his first feature-length documentary, Maestro, starring Paavo Jarvi, Joshua Bell, Hilary Hahn, and Lang Lang. Since then, Maestro has been translated into a dozen languages and is airing on networks spanning five continents. Most importantly it is utilized as a much-needed resource for music educators.

Donnelly is the author of the viral Huffington Post essay “Why Failing Orchestras are the Problem of Every American.” and is the executive producer of the award-winning documentary Gabe. In 2018, Donnelly released the three-part web series "Of the Americas" documenting the Orchestra of the America's tour across South America. He is the director of Forte and Nordic Pulse, feature length documentaries slated for an early 2019 release. Donnelly has successfully launched three Kickstarter campaigns to help finance his independently produced films.

Donnelly’s work has appeared in some of America’s most cherished cultural institutions including the Whitney Museum, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Curtis Institute of Music, and various embassies. He is the creator of the visionary hybrid film/concert program Not So Classical and is the founder of Culture Monster, a production company dedicated to making arts organizations more competitive in the free market economy through the utilization of narrative driven digital content.  Donnelly will launch his next venture, The American Culture Network, in 2019.