David C. Sampson (born January 26, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer.
Sampson earned a B.A. in music from the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied trumpet with Gilbert Johnson. He continued his studies with Donald Lybbert in composition at Hunter College, earning an M.F.A. in composition, followed by a D.M.A. at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied composition with John Corigliano and trumpet with Robert Nagel and Raymond Mase. He also attended the Ecole d’Art Americaines at Fontainebleau as a composition student of Robert Levin. Additionally, he has studied with Karel Husa and Henri Dutilleux in composition and Gerard Schwarz on trumpet.
Sampson has received major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Chamber Music America, Barlow Endowment, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Jerome Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.