David B. Soley C. was born in Panama in 1962. He began his musical education with Professor Edwin Cobham. In 1979 he moved to California where he continued his musical studies with the pianist and professor Dale Brooks. After three years as a saxophonist in the US Army, Soley studied at California State University, Northridge (Bachelor of Music) and at Stanford University (Doctor of Musical Arts).
He has studied with Pierre Boulez (Boulez Festival Los Angeles); Lukas Foss and Oliver Knussen (Tanglewood Music Festival) and Franco Donatoni (Accademia Musicale Chigiana).
Soley has taught at Stanford University and at Rice University. From 2001 to 2006 he lived in Brooklyn, New York, where he concentrated on composition. In 2006, he returned to Panama permanently. He is currently a professor at the Instituto Nacional de Música, Panama.
David Soley has been commissioned by the New York Youth Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Meet the Composer, Koussevitzky Foundation, Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players, Earplay, IRCAM/Ensemble Intercontemporain, Chicago Symphony and Fromm Foundation.