David Kalt, Serial Entrepreneur, Receives Highest Honor from VanderCook College of Music

Chicago-based entrepreneur David Kalt was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music on July 23, 2022. The degree was given in recognition of Kalt’s creative business ventures centered on the intersection of music, finance, and coding.  In particular, his music company reverb.com has been a game changer for musicians, providing a user-friendly, and affordable solution for musicians to buy and sell music instruments and gear.

During the ceremony, which took place in Chicago’s Symphony Center, Kalt addressed the graduating music educators, saying  “You will be fighting for the youth, giving them the essential tool of music to propel them forward in life. Your fight will improve our communities with young adults that appreciate culture and the arts. Your fight will translate into smarter, more productive individuals because they had early music education. That’s a purposeful fight that will improve society.”

David Kalt continues to play the guitar every day and to involve himself with start-up companies. One recent music project includes Songfinch, an online  platform where consumers can buy custom songs from professional musicians.

Kalt’s entrepreneurial ventures also include a customer relationship management tool called ClientBASE, and an innovative software called Options-Express which was later sold to Charles Schwab. Reverb.com came about after he first purchased a vintage guitar from Chicago Music Exchange, then, shortly thereafter, bought the store. Two years later he launched reverb.com,

David Kalt has been recognized by Ernst & Young as Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004, by Crain’s Chicago Business in the Tech 50, and has served on the board of directors for NAMM, the International Music Products Association, among other organizations.