East Studio Building, JS207
Education
- B.M., Bachelor of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, 1992
Biography
Alexander Kerr is professor of violin and the Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. In 1996, at the age of 26, he was appointed to the prestigious position of concertmaster of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. After nine successful years at the post, he left in June 2006 to assume his endowed position at Jacobs. In addition to his teaching responsibilities in Bloomington, he maintains a busy concert schedule, appearing with orchestras and in recital and chamber music performances throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. In 2008, he began his tenure as principal guest concertmaster of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and in September 2011, he assumed his role as concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. His expressive and charismatic style has made him one of the most accomplished and versatile violinists on the international music scene today.
Regarded by the press as a masterful virtuoso with an elegant, old-world sound, Kerr has appeared as soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, working with such renowned conductors as Mariss Jansons, Riccardo Chailly, Peter Oundjian, Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Jaap van Zweden, and David Zinman.
An active chamber musician, Kerr has collaborated with Martha Argerich, Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Edgar Meyer, Truls Mørk, Menahem Pressler, Vadim Repin, Alisa Weilerstein, Kim Kashkashian, and Maxim Vengerov in performances at festivals in Aspen, Santa Fe, Caramoor, La Jolla, and Stavanger, and throughout Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. He recently launched a collaboration with cellist Eric Kim and the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation showcasing the enormous wealth of talent at the Jacobs School of Music. The Starling Chamber Players, a mixture of faculty and students, will tour chamber music venues throughout the nation.
Kerr’s CD releases include the Dvorak Piano Quintet with Sarah Chang and Leif Ove Andsnes on the EMI label, music by Dutch composer Julius Röntgen on the NM Classics label, and the Shostakovich Romance on a series of discs including Violin Adagios and Evening Adagios released by Decca. A live DVD and CD recording of Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben with Kerr, the RCO, and Maestro Jansons was released in 2005 on the RCO’s own label, RCOLive!
Raised in Alexandria, Va., Kerr began his studies at age seven with members of the National Symphony Orchestra. He went on to study with Sally Thomas at The Juilliard School and with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he earned his Bachelor of Music degree in 1992.