Award-winning violinist David Bester is active as a soloist, chamber musician and recording artist. He has performed with the Cape Town-, KwaZulu Natal-, Gauteng Philharmonic- and Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestras (ECPO) and regularly plays as a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Namur and the Amici Quartet. As the Concertmaster and Artistic Director of the ECPO, David helps develop and showcase music by local composers. David is passionate about discovering new music and exploring the creative ground where styles and genres intersect.
After obtaining his BMus (cum laude) and MMus (cum laude) in music performance from Stellenbosch University under Suzanne Martens, David furthered his studies in Belgium. Here, he obtained a second MMus (cum laude) from the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp under the tutelage of Alissa Margulis. During his studies, David received master classes from acclaimed violinists Pavel Vernikov, Ivry Gitlis, Barnabás Kelemen, Ilya Gringolts, Priya Mtichell, Daniel Rowland and Frank Stadler. These players and pedagogues have influenced his own approach to playing and teaching. David’s studies abroad were made possible by generous grants from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, National Arts Council of South Africa, as well as the Oranje-bursary awarded by the Dutch Consulate in Antwerp in 2017.
Currently the head of strings at Nelson Mandela University, David supervises postgraduate students. Through the NMUSE group, and regular workshops presented for string teachers, David has invigorated string teaching and playing in the Eastern Cape while creating opportunities for young string players to work closely alongside professional musicians. As a scholar, David’s PhD research focuses on embodiment and how string teachers enact embodied knowledge when they teach. David has won several Creative Output Awards for his artistic research endeavours.
