David Caplan

Cellist David Caplan began his musical studies at the age of ten, and has studied with Amir Eldan, Daniel Mcdonough, Dmitry Kouzov, Jonathan Pegis, Benjamin Whitcomb, and Adelaide Hagari. A Chicago native, David has performed frequently with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, and Music of the Baroque, as well as with orchestras across the Midwest, including the Lansing Symphony, Kankakee Valley Symphony, Kalamazoo Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, and Sinfonia da Camera.
As an avid chamber musician, David, along with Quartet Bellezza, won the junior division gold medal at the 2017 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, first prize at the 2017 Discover Chamber Music Competition, as well as first prize and audience prize in the junior division of WDAV's Young Musician's Chamber Competition. Quartet Bellezza was also one of six groups accepted to the 2018 Juilliard String Quartet Seminar. David was also a finalist in the 2020 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, with Trio Verite. Recent chamber music engagements include concerts in Kansas City and the University of Kansas with the St. Petersburg String Quartet, a world premiere performance of Leo Discenza's You Saved Me, for Mezzo-Soprano and Cello at Northwestern University, a performance of Schubert’s Trout Quintet with Yaron Kohlberg, Fabiola Kim, Yizhak Schotten, and Nicholas Walker, and a performance of Brahms' Bb Sextet with Amir Eldan, Yizhak Schotten, and Fabiola Kim, a performance of the Mendelssohn Octet with the Rolston String Quartet, and concerts in Baltimore and New York City with the Continuum Chamber Collective.
David has taken part in lessons and masterclasses with Paul Katz, Richard Aaron, Ludwig Quandt, Brant Taylor, Amos Yang, Astrid Schween, Yeesun Kim, William Grubb, Alan Rafferty, Amir Eldan, Timothy Eddy, Zlatomir Fung, Eran Meir, Calum Cook, Walter Haman, Eric Kutz, Steven Houser, Peter Szczepanek, Dmitry Kouzov, Tony Ross, Carter Brey, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Hans Jensen, Daniel Mcdonough, Kirsten Doctor, Austin Hartman, Mark Brandfonbrener, Joseph Gascho, Rami Solomonow, Espen Lilleslatten, Darrett Adkins, Ara Gregorian, Renee Gauthier, Christopher Harding, Shiela Browne, Eva Lymenstull, Christine Lamprea, Anthony Arnone, Eric Kim, Martin Katz, Michael Chertock, Katherine Collier, Felix Wang, JY Song, Kenneth Slowik, Vernon Regher, Logan Skelton, Rita Sloan, Andrew Harley, Robert McDonald, Richard Hawkins, Richard Hirschl, the Eroica Trio, and the Calidore, Jupiter, Jasper, Rolston, Borromeo, Brentano, Verona, and Shanghai String Quartets. In an orchestral setting, David has performed with artists such as Seong-Jin Cho, Gil Shaham, Hilary Hahn, Stefan Jackiw, Zlatomir Fung, Tai Murray, Awadagin Pratt, Joyce Yang, Carrie Dennis, Eighth Blackbird, Aldo Lopez-Gavilan, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Kahil El'Zabar, and Natalie Merchant.
David was the winner of the 2016 Birch Creek concerto competition, which led to his orchestral debut, performing Dvorak's Cello Concerto with the Birch Creek Orchestra. In 2017, David appeared as soloist and chamber musician on NPR's From the Top with host Christopher O'Riley as a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist in Longview, Texas, and Reno, Nevada.
David has a Master's Degree in Cello Performance from the University of Michigan, where he studied under the tutelage of Amir Eldan. David also performed in the U-M Baroque Chamber Orchestra and studied baroque cello with Eva Lymenstull. David has a burning passion for teaching others and showcasing the power of music, and has been a guest clinician at Midwest Young Artists’ Conservatory, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and ArtsAhimsa Chamber Music Festival. He has also taught for Young Music Scholars, an organization that provides lessons to underserved children. He has made appearances at the Chautauqua, Aspen, and Taos summer music festivals, and was a fellow with the Grant Park Music Festival. Currently, David serves as a co-principal cello of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago.