David Earnest Obituary David, 64, beloved first-born of Phil and Alice, loving brother of Scott, Kristy and Jana, passed from this earthly existence to heavenly realms. David suffered a great deal from severe symptoms related to Parkinsons Disease which left him feeling that he was not living in the truest and most fulfilling sense of the word. David will always be remembered as touching many lives through his work as an audio guy; his talents and contributions as a composer; his eye for creating art through painting; as well as his sense of humor; quick ability to make up quirky songs; and curiosity for life, science, history, and different cultures and people. He was constantly using his God-given talents to enrich the lives of those around him. While uncomfortable having to get up in front of crowds to speak, being on stage to play in a band was easy or him. Dave spent may hours in the boat on the Snake River fishing with family, playing cards on Sunday with his parents and sister after his Sunday gig at Hope Lutheran as their bass player, playing golf with all of his buddies, going to nieces and nephews sporting events and concerts, reading and teaching himself whatever he wanted to learn, watching Mariners games and any other sports he enjoyed including football, golf and tennis. The nieces and nephews have wonderful memories of Wii tennis matches; riding "horsey" on his back as toddlers until deemed "too big"; the renaming of "Mr. Nasty"; Dave taking them to Dawn of the Dinosaurs or the Nutcracker; playing cello and violin together; giving, Jelly, the kitten to Dave on his birthday after spilling jelly on his furthus the cats name; talking about painting and seeing his work and showing him mine; playing in family concerts with songs written by Dave; being inspired by him to be a musician; Dave leading us in a watercolor class; his explosions into singing a dramatic song and then laughing about it; hitting golf balls out in the pasture; listening to the Sacagawea piece he composed and feeling really proud that he was my uncle. In the words of his love, Natasha, "Sometimes he would make up stories and songs while driving, and have me in stitches. He was very good with words and had an effortless feel for comedy and absurdity, which usually appeared when he felt relaxed and comfortable. But above all, he was a warm, sensitive, compassionate, insightful and kind human being." Because David had such a way with words we will let him tell us more. These are excerpts from his various websites that give us insight into his life and journey: I started with music early on, singing in church, and later finding a clarinet in my uncles closet. I taught myself to play while in grade school, played tenor sax in marching band in high school. I also played bass clarinet in the concert band in high school, and at Wheaton College, in the wind ensemble and orchestra. My first classical guitar arrived on Christmas morning, when I was 12. I played that thing non-stop. I then picked up bass guitar and started playing in rock bands in high school. I played my first club gig at 17 and did this off and on, playing bass in millions of bands including several local Boise house gigs: with Redstone at Shorty's, Saloonatics at the Buffalo Club, and Silverado at Cowgirls, and iRock, a variety/80's rock band for corporate parties, weddings, etc. 1980, while in Minnesota playing in a couple of bands, I discovered a record of Beethoven's 6th in my roommates record collection, orchestrated some of the songs I was writing for the band for the same orchestra Beethoven used, and I was off in another direction: 'classical' composing. I came back to Idaho, worked at Micron, saved my money, and then went to the Wheaton College Conservatory. I graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Composition in 1991. Since then, I've composed concert works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, wind bands, and choirs, including music for the Boise Philharmonic (Cello Concerto for Sam Smith, conducted by the composer, 2003, and Turbulence 2011), Caritas Chorale of Sun Valley (Immence Ranges of High Mountains 2005, and Nez Perce: Promises 2012), the Langroise Trio (7 world premieres), Idaho Dance Theater (6 premieres), and the Darkwood Trio, among others. After the BPO children's concerts premiere, Robert Franz, music director for the Boise Philharmonic, conducted 'Turbulence' 7 times with the Houston Symphony. The piece had its 'official' Boise premiere in May of 2013 on the Boise Philharmonic subscription concert. In 2009, I received the Fellowship Award for excellence from Idaho Commission on the Arts. Commercially I've won many Idaho Advertising Rockies awards for both score and sound design. On the painting side of Daves talents, he shares this: My art journey began in rural Idaho, in the beautiful Treasure Valley, near Boise. I remember early on experimenting with painting and drawing. But music took hold the strongest. While attending music school near Chicago, I had the opportunity to take drawing and art history and visited the Art Institute many times. My eventual music tours and travels to Budapest, Venice, Verona, Ravenna, Florence, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Paris, and Lisbon, among others, gave me amazing up close looks at some of the worlds great art. The urge to paint started around 2000, using acrylics. Oils followed and I moved out of the studio into the countryside for awhile, painting plein air in the Idaho desert, and on the Oregon coast. Then there was a hiatus for a few years as the music commissions took over. Returning to painting I created still life and landscapes using oils. In February of 2021, I started painting watercolors. Practicing this new art, I find the directness of sharing a painting a welcome respite to the somewhat indirect process of composing, preparing score and parts, hiring the musicians, rehearsing and performing of music. With painting, you paint, people look. And, hopefully, there is an emotional connection. My interest in audio started early. When I was a kid, I used to tear apart old radios, take out the speakers, and then place the speakers all around the room, in other rooms, wherever, and connect them with speaker wire. Then I'd hook them all up to a working radio speaker. I'd get a kick every time all of those speakers would come to life. Later, I moved to doing 'multi-track' recordings with two portable cassette recorders, recording into one, then playing that back while playing guitar and recording with the other deck. The results were marginal. When I finally could afford a 4-track reel to reel, I was in heaven. I recorded every band who would give me a try. This all eventually led to digital audio. Being able to do everything in a computer was a revelation, and I soon was working with an animator friend of mine, building soundscapes and composing scores for his animated films. One ended up being played at the SIGGRAPH convention in L.A.. I was also recording my live classical music premieres. As my confidence grew, I decided to shop my skills. I took a boom box and a CD of my recording and composing demo around Boise, setting up appointments with whomever, and whatever agency would listen to me. At an agency open house party, I ran into Shane Jibben at North By Northwest Productions. We set up an interview and I eventually was hired on as the audio guy there. I worked on everything from features (five total, audio duties ranging from dialog editing, sound effects editing, backgrounds/ambiences, to orchestrator for the composer of The Basket, Don Caron, including a trip to Budapest for the scoring sessions), to TV and radio spots and industrial videos, working on many Albertsons/SuperValu in-house training, amongst hundreds of others. Ten years later, we parted ways, and I opened my own shop where I recorded and mixed music and sound for films and documentaries, TV, internet shows, and radio. And, in case you were wondering, Joe Quatrone and I created the Wooh! many moons ago for the Idaho lottery. Visiting Daves websites (www.davidalanearnest.com; www.daveearnestaudio.com; www.daveearnestart.weebly.com) has been a joy while putting this story together. David was baptized as a youth and, as like many of us, his life took him down many paths. At his passing we know that he was at peace with God, and we have no doubt that his curiosity regarding the afterlife has been fulfilled. Wisdom that David shared with us is this: "Travel. Youll see that were all in the same boat, just trying to stay afloat, and theres no reason for hate or discrimination. Love one another. Be tolerant of others beliefs. Be kind." David is survived by his parents, Phil and Alice Earnest, Nampa; siblings, Scott Earnest (Beth), Nampa, Kristy Earnest, Caldwell and Jana Oesch (Mike), Caldwell; nieces and nephews, Lorren Oesch, Curtis Oesch Miller (Sarah), Sage Gerdes (Ethan), Caleb Oesch, Ellie Earnest, and Sadie Oesch, and the love of his life, his Dahlinka, Natasha Pikoul of Sao Joo da Madeira, Portugal. David is preceded in death by his grandparents Harold and Naomi Hooley and Norman and Ruth Earnest, aunt JoAnn Hamilton, uncle Galen Earnest, cousin Mike Hamilton, and nephew Tabor Earnest. A visitation/gathering time for all family and friends of Davids will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2024, from 2-4 PM at the Nampa Funeral Home, Yraguen Chapel. We encourage all to attend and gather with common friends to share your memories and stories with one another and the family. In lieu of flowers you are welcome to contribute to Davids memorial fund through https://gofund.me/a8dd0d76. Peace and comfort to all. Services Visitation Saturday September 14, 2024 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM Nampa Funeral Home 415 12th Ave. So. Nampa, Idaho 83651