David Werden is a graduate of the University of Iowa and the University of Connecticut. He was the euphonium soloist with The United States Coast Guard Band for 26 years, during which time he performed in 42 states, Canada, England, the former Soviet Union, and did a personal recital tour in Japan. He was a founding member of The USCG Band Euphonium/Tuba Quartet and the Atlantic Tuba Quartet, and was a member of the professional tuba-euphonium ensemble “Symphonia.”
His many solo performances and his efforts to expand the role of the euphonium in music earned him the prestigious Coast Guard Commendation Medal. He has also been awarded two Coast Guard Achievement Medals, the Coast Guard Special Operations ribbon, two Coast Guard Unit Commendations, and three Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendations.
In addition he has performed on live national television, in movie soundtracks, and on international radio broadcasts. David has played for five U.S. presidents, dozens of celebrities, King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, and Queen Elizabeth II of England. He has also played with the Classic Brass Band, Sheldon Theater Brass Band, Minnesota Brass, the New York Philharmonic, the Minnesota Orchestra, and on broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. In 1993 he was inducted into the Pi Kappa Lambda honors society.
He has taught euphonium at the University of Connecticut and the University of Minnesota, and is currently teaching private euphonium lessons in the Twin Cities area. David has published more than 100 arrangements and four books, and has written several magazine and journal articles. In 1980 he became the first American to be named “Euphonium Player of the Year,” and in 2012 he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Tuba-Euphonium Association. He is an Adams Euphonium Artist, and has played Denis Wick and Alliance mouthpieces for the last 35 years.
