David Ehrlich

Violin, viola, chamber music, chamber orchestra

David Ehrlich was raised in Israel, where he studied violin with the famous Ilona Feher, teacher of Zukerman and Ashkenasi. From the age of 13 he became the recipient of an annual scholarship awarded by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation. While studying in Tel Aviv University he served as concertmaster and soloist with the Tel Aviv Chamber Orchestra and toured as guest soloist with other Israeli chamber orchestras. In 1972 he won first prize in Israel in chamber music.

After studying for several years with Shmuel Ashkenasi at Northern Illinois University, he became the first non-American to win first prize in the Young Artist Competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs. This resulted in appearances in concerts and recitals throughout the United States, as well as engagements on radio and television. David served as concertmaster of the Colorado Festival Orchestra, Filarmonica de Caracas, Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, and for several seasons was acting concertmaster and associate concertmaster, as well as soloist, with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. In 1984 he joined the Audubon String Quartet as first violinist, a position he held for 17 years. With the quartet, he toured all over the world, performing, conducting master classes and appearing on radio and television. In 1993, he and his wife, Teresa, founded the Renaissance Music Academy of Virginia, where he currently teaches violin, viola, chamber music, and conducts the youth chamber orchestra. He is a member of the Avanti Ensemble and a Music Director and a performer in the Red Rocks Summer Music Festival in Sedona, Arizona. In 2005 he will perform and teach in "Ameropa," a summer chamber music festival in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In October, 2004, David was appointed by the President of Virginia Tech as a "University Fellow of Fine Arts" in the Department of Outreach and International Affairs to develop arts and culture in southwestern Virginia.