Career
Early years
Born into a family of musical siblings, David began studying the violin at the age of six. At the age of 12, he embarked upon learning the viola and by age 16, the viola became his primary instrument. He continued to pursue both instruments at the pre-college divisions of Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, Italy’s Accademia Chigiana, Switzerland’s International Music Academy, and the Verbier Festival Academy, studying with world-renowned pedagogues Pinchas Zukerman, Roberto Diaz, Seiji Ozawa, Robert Mann, Nobuko Imai, Boris Belkin, and Yuri Bashmet.
2003 - Present Day
Since 2003 David has been performing with leading musicians and orchestras in the United States and Europe.
This past November, he made his debut in Germany with the Dresden Staatskapelle performing the Schnittke Viola Concerto. In 2008, he was Maxim Vengerov’s last-minute replacement for performances of Benjamin Yusupov"s Viola, Tango, Rock Concerto with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland.
He has performed in the United States at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Chicago’s Krannert Center, and San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, among other venues. In September, David released his first recording on the Ondine label of the Elgar Cello Concerto (arr Lionel Tertis/Carpenter) and the Schnittke Viola Concerto with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Maestro Christoph Eschenbach.
The disc received international acclaim and received numerous awards such as the Editor’s Choice Award by Gramophone Magazine and Disc of the Month by The New Yorker.
Most recently, David was the recipient of the prestigious 2010 Avery Fisher Career Grant. In 2006, David Aaron Carpenter was selected as a protégé by mentor Pinchas Zukerman as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, an international philanthropic programme that pairs masters in their disciplines with emerging talents for a year of one-to-one creative exchange. He collaborated in recital and chamber music concerts with Emanuel Ax, Sarah Chang, Leonidas Kavakos, Sol Gabetta, Julian Rachlin, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and Yuja Wang and performs regularly at the Schleswig-Holstein and Verbier Music Festivals.
In April 2016, Carpenter will release his debut solo album on Warner Classics, a program of "12 Seasons" (Vivaldi and Piazzolla in viola arrangement, and a new work composed specially for the Salomé Orchestra by Alexey Shor: Four Seasons of Manhattan).
According to his social media presence, David is also an exquisite art and watches collector.
