Cello with David C.

Born 1999 in Skokie, Illinois, Mexican-American cellist David Caplan began his musical studies at the age of ten and presently studies with Amir Eldan. Previous teachers include Daniel Mcdonough, Dmitry Kouzov, Jonathan Pegis, Benjamin Whitcomb, and Dee Hagari. As an avid chamber musician, David, along with Quartet Bellezza, won first prize at the 2017 Discover Chamber Music Competition, first prize and audience prize in the junior division of WDAV's Young Musician's Chamber Competition, and the junior division gold medal at the 2017 Fischoff National Chamber Music 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 with members of the St. Petersburg String Quartet, and a world premiere performance of Leo Discenza's You Saved me, for Mezzo Soprano and Cello, at Northwestern University. David has taken part in lessons and masterclasses with Paul Katz, Astrid Schween, Yeesun Kim, William Grubb, Alan Rafferty, Amir Eldan, Timothy Eddy, Dmitry Kouzov, Tony Ross, Carter Brey, Shmuel Ashkenasi, Hans Jensen, Daniel Mcdonough, Rami Solomonow, Espen Lilleslatten, Darrett Adkins, Ara Gregorian, Renee Gauthier, Christine Lamprea, Anthony Arnone, Eric Kim, Rita Sloan, Andrew Harley, Robert McDonald, Richard Hawkins, Richard Hirschl, the Eroica Trio, and the Jupiter, Jasper, Borromeo, Brentano, Verona, and Shanghai String Quartets. He has played under the baton of renowned conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Robert Spano, David Afkham, Kerem Hasan, Victor Yampolsky, Cliff Colnut, Larry Livingston, Ian Hobson, Hilel Kagan, George Manahan, Osmo Vänskä, Allan Dennis, Hugh Wolff, Donald Schleicher, and Gennady Rozhdestvensky. 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. David has participated in side-by-sides with the Lake Forest Symphony, Chicago Philharmonic, and the Minnesota 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. In the fall of 2021, David will begin pursuing a Master's Degree in Cello Performance at the University of Michigan, under the tutelage of Amir Eldan. David performs on a cello made by Gunther Reuter in 1982, and a David Samuels bow. David has a burning passion for teaching others and has been a guest clinician at Midwest Young Artists’ Conservatory and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. He is also a teacher for Young Music Scholars, an organization that provides lessons to underserved children. He has made appearances at the Aspen and Taos summer music festivals.