American composer John David Earnest (b. 1940) has composed extensively for orchestra, chamber ensembles, chorus, solo voice and opera.

His chamber music includes the Sonata for Piano (premiered by Lee D. Thompson); The Blue Estuaries (for soprano and seven instruments, recorded by Judith Kellock and Ensemble X on Koch International Classics), Aria and Chorale (for violin and piano; commissioned by Dona Lee Croft, premiered at St. Martin's in the Fields, London), and Trois Morceaux (New Music for Young Ensembles prize winner).

Mr. Earnest teaches composition privately in New York City.

He is also composer-in-residence and visiting professor at Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington. He has taught at Lehman College, City University of New York; and Rutgers University in New Jersey. His music is published by E.C. Schirmer Music Company, Boston, a division of ECS Publishing.

Born in Texas and educated at the University of Texas in Austin, Mr. Earnest currently lives in New York City, where he has been since 1968.