David C. Milnes is excited to be a member of the Orange High School staff. Prior to his arrival at Orange High School in September 2007, he served as music instrucdtor at Forest Street Elementary School. Mr. Milnes is originally from southern New Jersey where he was a student in the Cinnaminson Public Schools. Music has always been a major interest in Mr. Milnes’ life. During his high school years, Mr. Milnes was selected for the New Jersey All-State Choir and was also chosen as the first chair pianist for the NJ All-State Jazz Band. At his high school, Mr. Milnes lead both his marching band as Drum Major and the choir as Student Director. He also performed with the Grammy Jazz Band and served as an accompanist and composer for the American Music Theater Festival at the Prince Theater in Philadelphia.

Mr. Milnes is a graduate from the Berklee College of Music where he obtained a Bachelor of Music in Songwriting. While at Berklee, he won various songwriting awards and performed original music around the city of Boston. During his college years, Mr. Milnes served as music director for many shows at both Harvard University and The Boston Conservatory of Music. In addition, he also served as music director at Surflight Theater, a professional theatre company located on Long Beach Island. Mr. Milnes is a recent recipient of an alumni grant from Berklee which will be used to start a record label called "Orange Juice". The program entails producing an album written and performed by the students of OHS culminating in a live event at the end of the year. All proceeds will go towards a music scholarship for a student pursuing a career in music production and engineering.

Mr. Milnes’ passion for the creation of new music lead him to involvement with production and music technology. He has his own recording studio where he writes and produces music for commercial use. From film scoring and radio advertising to working with up-and-coming artists, Mr. Milnes is always working on a new project.

Since graduating college, Mr. Milnes has been teaching private and group lessons to musicians of all ages. The satisfaction he received from teaching music on an individual basis lead him to the classroom. Mr. Milnes continues to look forward to sharing his musical knowledge with the talented students of Orange and is happy to help better the next generation of musicians.