David Gerstein is currently the principal cellist of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, which he has been a member of since September 2008. Referred to by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette as the “busiest classical musician in Arkansas,” he is regularly featured in orchestral solos with the orchestra, which have been described as “absolutely gorgeous,” and on many chamber music concerts throughout the state. He is the cellist of the Arkansas Symphony’s Quapaw String Quartet.
Gerstein has been featured as soloist several times with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, most recently in 2019 in the Beethoven Triple Concerto. Gerstein has also appeared as soloist with the Pine Bluff Symphony, the Greece Symphony, and the University of Arkansas Symphony Orchestra as a faculty member.
An avid chamber musician, Gerstein has appeared in concert collaborating with violinist Jennifer Frautschi, pianist Norman Krieger, violinist Augustin Hadelich, the Ying Quartet, cellist Inbal Segev, violinst Vadim Gluzman, and members of eighth blackbird.
During the summer season, Gerstein performs in the cello section of the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, CA, and has served on the faculty of the Music in the Mountains Conservatory in Durango Colorado.
Gerstein received a BM with Distinction from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with David Ying. He received an MM from Rice University under the direction of Norman Fischer. Gerstein is currently on faculty at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and has previously served on the faculties at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, the University of Central Arkansas, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
