David Bertman
Director, University of Houston Marching Band and Cougar Brass

e-mail: dbertman@uh.edu
office: MSM 164
office phone: (713)743-3183
address: 120 School of Music Bldg, Houston, TX 77204-4017

David Bertman, Associate Professor of Music, and Director of Bands, Cheer, and Dance; plays a huge and very public role at the University of Houston. Overseeing more than 450 students makes him a roving ambassador on campus and in the Houston community. He is the conductor of the Moores School of Music Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, and he teaches graduate and undergraduate conducting and assists in the coordination of the wind studies program. Bertman is co-author with Eddie Green and John Benzer of the Ensemble Musicianship Series published by Hal Leonard.

Prior to his tenure at UH, Bertman was Associate Director of Bands at Haltom High School in the Birdville ISD for thirteen years. Working with Greg Hull, Cindy Lansford, Tony Smith, and Ben Maughmer, the band received numerous awards, including the 1993 Texas 5A Honor Band, and an invitation to perform at the 1993 Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic. 

Bertman earned his BM in instrumental music education from the University of Oklahoma, under the tutelage of Gene Thraikill, William Wakefield, and Roland Barrett, and his MM in conducting from the University of Houston, where he studied with the legendary Eddie Green.  As a faculty member of the University of Houston, he received the Bill Yeoman Award in 2003, the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Science’s Alumni Faculty Award in 2004, the Moores Society Faculty of the Year Award in 2005, and the Houston Alumni Association Faculty Impact Award in 2010.  Bertman was also the brass caption head for the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps from 2001-2009, leading them to two Jim Ott brass trophies and four World Championships.  He is a member of the Texas Music Educators Association, the College Band Directors National Association, and the Texas Bandmasters Association. .