Dr. David Doke has been teaching music in the Cobb County (GA) School District since 1994 and holds the distinction of being the founding director for two Cobb County High School Orchestra Programs. He began his teaching career in 1994 as the first director of the North Cobb High School Orchestra Program. In 2006 he opened Hillgrove High School where he currently serves as Director of Orchestras and Advanced Placement Music Theory teacher. 

As a music educator, Dr. Doke has led his students in National Orchestra Festivals at prestigious venues such as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington (2012), Orchestra Hall in Chicago (2013), Symphony Hall in Boston (2006), and four times at Carnegie Hall (2011, 2014, 2017 and 2022). He he has conducted at the Georgia Music Educators State Conference with the North Cobb Symphony (2001), and Hillgrove Symphony (2010, 2015). International performances include a two-week concert tour of Beijing and Shanghai (2016), and performances as at the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings in Normandy and Paris, France (2019). The Hillgrove Orchestra will embark on a concert tour of Iceland in April of 2024.

As a teacher leader, Dr. Doke has been selected to present clinics at the Georgia Music Educators Association State Conference (GMEA), the American String Teachers Association (ASTA) National Conference, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) National Conference and the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago. Dr. Doke served as director of the University of Georgia Summer Music Camps, and has been guest conductor for honor orchestras in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington State. He frequently works as violin section coach for high school workshops and area youth orchestras including the Georgia Youth Symphony, the Emory Youth Symphony, and the Metropolitan Youth Symphony of Atlanta.

As an advocate for alternative styles strings, Dr. Doke was interviewed live on CNN Headline News in 2002, where he discussed popular music and technology in the music classroom. In 2003 Dr. Doke received the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Honor Teacher Award, and in 2012 he was named STAR Teacher at Hillgrove.

Prior to his career in music education Dr. Doke played violin professionally in several orchestras around the world, including the Chicago Chamber Orchestra, The American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, La Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico in Toluca, Mexico, and the Mexico Philharmonic in Mexico City, Mexico.  He has performed at venues such as Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, el Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, Smetana Hall in Prague, the International Mahler Festival in Dobbiaco, Italy, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Berlin Philharmonie in Germany. In September of 2007, he was the featured mandolin soloist with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra where he performed the Vivaldi Concerto for Mandolin. During his travels as a professional musician, Dr. Doke was fortunate to share the stage with some of the world’s most talented artists including Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Midori, Joshua Bell, Julie Andrews, Jose Carreras, and Placido Domingo.

Dr. Doke holds a Doctorate in Music Education from Boston University’s School of Music. His dissertation, Collaborative Learning Among High School Students in an Alternative Styles String Ensemble, reflects his interest in Alternative Styles. He also holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance from DePaul University in Chicago, and a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance from the Conservatory of Music at The University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Dr. Doke remains active as a freelance violinist in the Atlanta metropolitan area. His professional affiliations include NAfME, GMEA, ASTA, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Dr. Doke and his wife Allison have been married since 1989 and have two children. His interests outside of music include cooking, backpacking, golf and most of all…traveling with his family.