Ilya Kaler was born in Moscow, Russia into a family of musicians. Major teachers at the Moscow Central Music School and the Moscow Conservatory included Zinaida Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Victor Tretyakov and Abram Shtern.
Mr Kaler has earned rave reviews for solo appearances with distinguished Orchestras throughout the world, which included the Leningrad, Moscow and Dresden Philharmonic Orchestras, the Montreal Symphony, the Danish and Berlin Radio Orchestras, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New Japan Philharmonic, the Moscow and Zurich Chamber Orchestras, among others. His solo recitals have taken him throughout the former Soviet Union, the United States, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, South Africa and Israel.
His recordings of the Paganini Caprices have been deemed by American Record Guide to be ‘in a class by themselves’ combining ‘the perfection, passion, and phrase sculpting of Michael Rabin with the energy, excitement, and immediacy of Jascha Heifetz.’ Other highly acclaimed recordings include Sonatas by Schumann and Brahms, Concertos by Paganini, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Schumann, Dvořák, Glazunov, as well as Taneyev Suite, Bach Sonatas and Partitas, to name a few.
The Washington Post lauds him as, ‘a consummate musician, in total control at all times, with a peerless mastery of his violin.’
An active chamber musician, Mr Kaler has appeared at many major music festivals throughout the US and Europe with many of the most prominent musicians of our time. Mr Kaler’s orchestral career includes guest Concertmaster appearances with San Francisco Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony, as well as regular tours with the World Orchestra for Peace under the direction of Valery Gergiev. He has also held a position of a concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, NY, for 5 years.
One of the most sought-after teachers in the world, Ilya Kaler has served as a Professor of Violin at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, IN, Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and is currently a Professor of Violin at DePaul University School of Music in Chicago, IL.
He lives with his wife Olga and two young sons Daniel and Ariel in Wilmette, IL.
Mr Kaler performs on a ‘Sennhauser’ Giuseppe Guarnerius del Gesu violin, 1735, on generous loan from the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
