David Aaron Carpenter

Born April 5, 1986, in Great Neck on Long Island, New York, David Carpenter established himself early as an American viola prodigy, performing with leading orchestras and collecting awards throughout his teenage years. Germany’s Die Welt later hailed him as “a new star at the forefront of violists.” Raised in a musical household, he began violin studies at age six under Nicole DiCecco via the Suzuki method. Three years later he took up the viola as well; by sixteen he had chosen to concentrate on the latter instrument while still pursuing lessons in both. At nineteen he made his Philadelphia Orchestra debut under Christoph Eschenbach, then captured first prize at the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg Viola Competition.

Further opportunities followed quickly. In 2008 he stepped in for an indisposed Maxim Vengerov to premiere Benjamin Yusupov’s Viola, Tango, Rock Concerto with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. Parallel to these engagements, Carpenter pursued advanced training at the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, Italy’s Accademia Chigiana, Switzerland’s International Music Academy, and the Verbier Festival Academy. His mentors included Yuri Bashmet, Boris Belkin, Nobuko Imai, and Pinchas Zukerman, the last through the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Amid this itinerary he completed a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations at Princeton University in 2008.

Carpenter has appeared at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, and he has played the Schnittke Viola Concerto with both the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden. The 2009 Ondine recording of that concerto, together with his own transcription of the Elgar Cello Concerto, was made with the Philharmonia. Recital collaborators have encompassed Emanuel Ax, Sol Gabetta, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Yuja Wang, whose platform presence he rivaled. An Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient in 2010, he issued three further Ondine albums before signing with the relaunched Warner Classics label, which released his 2016 album The 12 Seasons—four concertos each by Vivaldi, Piazzolla, and New York composer Alexey Shor. His 2018 release Motherland featured works by Bartók, Walton, Dvořák, and Shor.