A career pianist, David L Tolley first made his splash in public television during an impromptu performance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Unbeknownst to Johnny, David was born a musician. A native of Columbus, Ohio and the seventh of eight children, David grew up in a family that loved music. He began to play the piano at age five, and started taking formal lessons at the age of seven. Pursuing music throughout his childhood, David graduated as valedictorian from Ohio's first Performing Arts High School and then finished a double Bachelor's in Piano Performance and in Music Composition, and a Masters of Music in Composition at The Ohio State University. David started his Doctorate at OSU but felt a strong tug on his heart to move to the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles. Packing up all of his belongings into his VW Rabbit, David headed west.

His career launched successfully, and in time, his work would include a project for Steven Spielberg, as well as all of the new original music for the DISNEYLAND theme parks in Paris and Tokyo. He has also written nine complete musicals including one that ran off-Broadway and was nominated for 2 Grammy awards. David has also performed for four separate United States Presidents (Ford, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton), prime minister Tony Blair, as well as a concert for as well as a concert for Boris Yeltsin in Russia, and several performances on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show.

After almost 20 years in LA, David moved back home to Ohio to be with his extended family and also finish up his Doctorate in Music Composition (graduated in 2008). David is currently a Full Professor of music, and the Director of the music industry program at Delaware State University where he loves teaching and wants to always help talented artists find their place in today's world. 

David has continued to pursue his place in music, composing on a regular basis and creating new musicals with hopes of them opening on Broadway and beyond. He most recently composed music for the 2020 musical Madam of the Atom (https://www.madamoftheatom.com/). After years of encouragement by his family and friends, David is excited to launch a new phase of his career as a solo pianist and plans to release new music and start giving concerts worldwide again.