Donald Weilerstein (born 1940) is an American violinist and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

Early life and education

Weilerstein was born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and raised in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. He began playing the violin at the age of four and earned a Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

Career

In 1969, he founded the Cleveland Quartet, becoming its first violinist, a position he held until 1989. Since 2004, he has been the Dorothy Richard Starling Chair in Violin Studies at

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

and since 2001, he is a faculty member at the

. His students have won first prize in the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists and first prize in the

International Violin Competition of Indianapolis The International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) is a Classical music, classical violin competition which takes place once every four years in Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana. Since its founding in 1982, "The Indianapolis" has bee ...

. In addition, he is a member of the Weilerstein Trio with his daughter, Alisa Weilerstein, and wife, Vivian Hornik Weilerstein. Weilerstein is a fellow of the

Music Academy of the West The Music Academy of the West is a summer classical music training program in Montecito, California, and festival with performances in the County of Santa Barbara. Overview The academy annually enrolls 136 pre-professional musicians in their ...

. His son, Joshua Weilerstein, has guest conducted with the

New York Philharmonic Orchestra The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...

References

American male classical violinists Jewish classical violinists Violin educators Juilliard School faculty Living people 1940 births Music Academy of the West alumni 21st-century American male musicians People from Berkeley, California Musicians from Berkeley, California 21st-century American classical violinists {{US-classical-musician-stub