Artistic Staff

David Christopher has held the position of Artistic Director since 2005. Recent major oratorio and choral credits include Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms) with Delaware ChoralArts and the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Messiah (Handel), Grand Mass in C (Mozart), Holocaust Cantata (McCullough), Chichester Psalms (Bernstein), Judas Maccabaeus (Handel), Lux Aeterna (Lauridsen), and Requiems by Duruflé, Fauré and Rutter.

As a conductor, David has built a varied and highly successful history as an interpreter of choral, orchestral and stage works. He has served as associate conductor for OperaDelaware where he made his opera conducting debut to critical acclaim in The Gondoliers (Gilbert & Sullivan), conducted Die Fledermaus (Strauss), and served as assistant conductor for numerous productions. Other operatic credits include Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), The Merry Widow (Lehar), La Traviata (Verdi), Savitiri (Holst), The Tender Land (Copland), Carmen (Bizet), The Nightingale (Stravinsky), as well as most of the Gilbert and Sullivan repertoire.

Through his association as conductor for the City of Wilmington, David has served as conductor and music director for the All-American Tribute Orchestra as part of the annual 4th of July Celebration in Tubman-Garrett Park at the Riverfront in Wilmington. On several occasions he has conducted concerts featuring the sacred music of Duke Ellington (featuring jazz orchestra, soloists, chorus and dancers) in collaboration with Tina Betz and the City of Wilmington as part of the DuPont Clifford Brown Jazz Festival in Wilmington.

Also a recognized leader in training children’s voices, David founded The Wilmington Children’s Chorus in 2002 in collaboration with the Mayor of Wilmington’s Office of Cultural Affairs and The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew. Now a multi-cultural ensemble with over 100 children and staffed by some of the area’s finest music educators, The Wilmington Children’s Chorus has become one of the premiere children’s choirs in the region.

A native of York, PA, Gabriel Benton enjoys a multifaceted life in music as a church musician, accompanist, performer and teacher. He lives in Wilmington DE, where he is the director of music and organist at Grace United Methodist Church. He holds degrees in harpsichord and organ performance from Oberlin, Juilliard, and Yale. Passionate about working with singers, he has been both accompanying and singing with various choirs from the time he was in high school.

As a harpsichordist and early music specialist, he regularly performs solo recitals, chamber music, and orchestral music across the United States. He is harpsichordist
for the Serafin Ensemble in Delaware as well as for American Bach Soloists in San Francisco. Other regular collaborations have included Brandywine Baroque in Delaware, American Baroque Orchestra in Connecticut, La Speranza in Texas, and New World Symphony in Florida.

Gabriel has been the recipient of several awards including first place in the York Symphony Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition, the Earl Russel Award in historical performance, and the Charles Ives organ scholarship. In 2022 he was awarded the Jeffrey Thomas award for “exceptionally gifted emerging professionals in the field of Early Music who show extraordinary promise and accomplishment.”