John David Earnest (b. 1940) has composed extensively for many types of ensembles, large and small, vocal and instrumental. His major choral works are Sun Songs and Nocturnes, commissioned for Chanticleer in 1991, A Van Doren Triptych, Only in the Dream, Variations on Three American Folksongs, and The First Day, commissioned by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in 2006. He teaches composition privately in New York City, and is also Composer-in-Residence at Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington. He has taught at Lehman College, City University of New York, and Rutgers University. His music is published by E.C.Schirmer Music Company, Boston. Born in Texas and educated at the University of Texas at Austin, he has made New York City his home since 1968.