Both critics and other artists have recognized composer David Gaines (b. 1961) for his imaginative orchestrations and his uniquely international and eclectic style. His music, which has been performed across North America and Europe, includes two symphonies, concertos for baritone saxophone, trombone, and euphonium, plus a variety of chamber, choral, and electronic music.

Recordings are available in compact disc and digital download formats on the Navona Records and Verda Stelo Music labels, the most recent of which is a newly remastered version of the long out-of-print 2001 orchestral album The Music Of David Gaines.

A graduate of Northwestern University, American University, and Johns Hopkins University's Peabody Conservatory of Music (where he earned a doctoral degree in composition), Gaines studied with M. William Karlins, Stephen Syverud, Jerzy Sapieyevski, Jean Eichelberger Ivey, and Robert Sirota. His awards include numerous ASCAP Standard and ASCAPlus Awards as well as first prize in the 1997 College Music Society Mid-Atlantic Chapter Student Composers Competition and first prize in the song division of the World Esperanto Association's 1995 International Fine Arts Competition. The "Society and Esperanto" Foundation of Bulgaria named him an Honorary Life Member in 1994, and in 2006 the international organization Muzika Esperanto-Ligo awarded him the title of Honorary President in recognition of his usage of the international language Esperanto in his music. In 2010, the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Competition selected Gaines’ Jubilee for euphonium and piano as one of the required semifinal round compositions.

Past faculty appointments include The New School's online Master of Media Technology degree program via Connected Education, Inc., for which he created the first Internet university-level music course for credit (on the history of electronic music technology), as well as University of Maryland University College, where he held the rank of adjunct associate professor.

Notable performances include the world premieres of La Ora Ŝipo for SSAT choir and Ho, Mia Kor' for soprano and piano at the 107th World Congress of Esperanto in Montreal; a performance of Symphony No. 1 ("Esperanto") in Bialistok, Poland, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Ludwig Zamenhof, inventor of the international language Esperanto; the premiere of Free Air for trombone and organ at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas; the Esperanto choral work Povas Plori Mi Ne Plu in Saint-Nazaire, France; The Lion Of Panjshir (Symphony No. 2) in Baltimore; the piano reduction version of the Concerto for euphonium and orchestra at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; Duo for flute and tuba at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh; Lyric Fanfare for trombone and piano at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, the University of Oregon, Texas State University-San Marcos, and Shoreline Community College in Washington state; Five Miniatures for flute and euphonium at West Virginia University, Southwestern University, and the University of Oklahoma; and the premiere of a trombone concerto written for Robert Kozánek (principal trombonist, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra) as part of the 60th anniversary celebration of the P. J. Vejvanovský Conservatory in Kromeríž, Czech Republic.

Outside of his musical activities, Dr. Gaines has been an animal welfare activist, shelter trainer, and an advocate for ferrets and other small mammals for many years, including several terms as the volunteer director of legal and legislative affairs for the American Ferret Association.