David McCarthy was born in Winnipeg, Canada. He has graduate degrees in music theory from the Eastman School of Music and in organ from Houghton College, and is a Fellow of the American Guild of Organists. He teaches music history at St. John Fisher College, and theory and ear training at Nazareth College, in Rochester, New York. His compositions are published by Paraclete Press and Augsburg Fortress, and on his Web site, and have been performed around the world. He is the organist and choir director at Incarnation Episcopal church in Penfield, and lives in Brighton with his wife Sherry and daughter Leah.