David Buck is the Principal Flute for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He has played in various orchestras across America, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Oregon Symphony.

Buck graduated from Strath Haven in 2000 and from The Juilliard School in 2004.

“Strath Haven and the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District just has a really exceptional music program,” Buck said. “I’m a professional musician, and I would never even have had started playing music if not for that program.”

Buck started playing the flute at Swarthmore-Rutledge School. He immediately realized that teachers are a very important asset to have in your life, especially in music. 

“Mr. Scott Kiener, who’s retired now, but he was the band director at SRS. So, he’s the one who taught me how to hold the flute and gave me my first lessons,” Buck said. “Then, Mrs. Vandruff, Mr. Pearlberg, and Mr. Henry Shaw­—the orchestra director at Strath Haven Middle School at the time. They were all just wonderful in helping to sort of direct me towards taking private lessons.”

Even though all these teachers helped Buck learn and play the flute well, there’s one person who stood out to him the most. Buck was taught by a former musician who played for 4 years in the Philadelphia Orchestra.

“Dave Kramer was probably the biggest influence on my flute playing when I was a teenager, and he played with the Philadelphia Orchestra for four years,” he said. “He’s the one who took me from being the first chair in the school band to have the opportunity to go to Julliard to study the flute as an undergraduate.”

When he got to middle school, Buck realized that he enjoyed playing an instrument. He started to take it seriously, and the band director took notice. 

“When I was in sixth grade, Mrs. Vandruff—she used to be the choral director at Strath Haven Middle School— took me aside, and she said, ‘You should think about taking private lessons’,” Buck said.

Come high school, Buck still wasn’t positive he wanted to be a musician. 

“I think my goals were pretty vague,” he said “I really liked playing music, and I wanted to get better at it… I auditioned for Philly Youth Orchestra and thought maybe I could actually play in an orchestra one day. So, I’d say by the end of freshman year, I sort of started to think maybe that would be a goal.”

Later in high school, he coached a small high school band that was thriving in the late 90s. This experience taught him much about what being a teacher meant.

“I coached the String and Flute Choir, and that actually gave me some really amazing experience as a teacher that I would never have had as a teenager,” Buck said.

He has managed to keep in touch with some friends and returns to the Delaware County area to spend Christmas and other holidays with his family.

“A good friend of mine, who’s the same year as me, is also a professional musician. He’s a horn player. He plays with the Colorado Symphony,” he said. “We get in touch every now and again, but unfortunately, because of music, you kind of have to go where the job is. So, I’ve ended up living really far away from Philadelphia.”

According to Buck, anyone wanting to pursue this career must put their hard work and dedication into music.

“The most important thing is that you have to practice— a lot,” Buck said. “The exact amount you need to practice varies based on your goals, and also on the instrument you play, but practicing every day is fundamental for pretty much any kind of career in music.”