David Thomas Cotter is an academic and musician, lecturing and performing on the international stage.

He has performed and presented in 29 countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the USA).  His doctoral research at the University of Cambridge concerns collaboration in musical performance. Recent publications include ‘The Guitar Reimagined’ (co-authored with Dr Marc Estibeiro) in Rethinking the Musical Instrument and ‘The Creative Musical Mediation of Order and Chaos’ in Jordan Peterson: Critical Responses. He is co-editor of Collaboration, Engagement and Tradition in Contemporary and Electronic Music: NoiseFloor Perspectives (Routledge, 2024), has written for The Critic, and co-organised conferences and taught at the universities of Cambridge, Leeds, and Surrey. In 2022 he was awarded an Honours Fellowship by The Center for European Renewal in association with The Vanenburg Society and The PAIDEIA Forum.
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He has lectured and performed in an eclectic array of venues around the world including the Cambridge Union (UK), Christmas Hall (Greece),  Hammersmith Apollo (UK), Honda Arena (USA), Ice Hall (Finland), National Marine Aquarium (UK), O2 Arena (UK), Royal Albert Hall (UK), Royal Shakespeare Theatre (UK), Samsung Hall (USA), Santa Clara Church (Portugal), St Andrew's Church (Singapore), Tempodrom (Germany), YouTube Theater (USA), and Wembley Arena (UK). A passion for ensemble performance has resulted in collaborations with cellists, choirs, clarinetists, composers, electronics, flautists, guitarists, guitar orchestras, harpists, percussionists, pianists, recorder players, singers, and violinists. He has shared the stage with notable artists such as Dame Emma Kirkby, Gonville & Caius Choir, and the Military Wives. He performs as one half of Duo Palatino, with mezzo-soprano Sophie Kidwell.
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David is active as a composer (see Composition), educator (see Teaching), and as a journalist (see Journalism). He has built self-playing guitar robots at the University of Oslo (Norway), helped to develop a Virtual Guitar Instructor through Biometrics Informed Human—Computer Interaction at the University of Manchester, conducted the University College Durham Orchestra, performed with the Choir of Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, sung for the Prime Minister of Singapore, managed an NFT marketplace, taught public speaking, judged international debating competitions, and featured in a number of films (including The Batman, Red Joan, Mammals, and The Machines That Built America).