David Saint was born in Jarrow in the northeast of England in 1954, and read music at Hull and Liverpool Universities. He studied the organ with Alan Spedding and Dame Gillian Weir. He gained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO) at the age of 20, winning the Turpin Prize for Performance. He has served as an active member of the Royal College of Organists (RCO) as Trustee.

He served as Principal of Birmingham Conservatoire until 2015 and is now an Emeritus Professor of Birmingham City University.
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He was recently appointed President-Elect of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, becoming President in 2018 / 19.

David holds a prestigious honourary Fellowship of the Royal School of Church Music; the Fellowship was conferred on him at Exeter Cathedral in June 2012. In 2015 a Fellowship of Birmingham Conservatoire was conferred on him.