Bio
David Forbat, NCTM, is Professor of Piano at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, OK, where he has taught since 2005. He currently teaches piano, chamber music, keyboard ensemble, and keyboard functional skills. He holds a DMA in piano performance from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore where he studied with Ann Schein. Other principal teachers with whom he has studied are John Perry (University of Southern California), Claude Frank (Aspen Music Festival), and Frank Weinstock (University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music).
At UCO, David Forbat is frequently heard as soloist or in collaboration with faculty colleagues on FACS (Faculty Artist Concert Series) programs. In addition, he has presented lecture programs on works such as Schumann's Carnaval, Op.9 and Ravel’s Miroirs. Representing the School of Music, Forbat twice traveled to China, performing recitals and teaching masterclasses at several universities and conservatories. In May/June 2013, at the invitation of Beijing Normal University, he returned to China to perform a recital and hold a series of twenty master classes during a 2-week teaching residency.
His piano/dance collaborations with the UCO department of dance and the OKC Ballet have been heard at UCO and at OMTA state conferences (OCU in 2012 and OU in 2018). These have included works by Grieg (Holberg Suite), Poulenc (Three Novelettes) and Chopin. With UCO ballet professor and choreographer Robyn Pasternack, Forbat was co-recipient of the 2011 College of Fine Arts & Design’s Collaborative Team Award. In March of 2020, Pasternack and Forbat again plan to collaborate with the OKC Ballet on music by Schubert.
Over the past two decades, Forbat has taken a special interest in promoting the integration of music theory and keyboard learning. He has developed numerous strategies designed to build music literacy in pianists of all levels and has presented on topics related to this aim at the local, state, and national level of the Music Teachers National Association.