Prof. Ilya Kaler is considered one of the most outstanding personalities of the violin whose career ranges from that of a soloist and recording artist (with Naxos Records and Ongaku Records) to chamber musician and professor. He is the only violinist to win the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, and the Paganini Competition in Genoa.

As a soloist, Mr. Kaler has performed with world-renowned orchestras from St. Petersburg, Moscow and the U.S.A. as well as the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Danish and Berlin Radio Orchestras and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra^1. He has collaborated with a number of outstanding conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Dmitry Kitaenko, Mariss Jansons. Kaler served as concertmaster of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, a position in which he regularly worked as a guest in the major US American orchestras. With recitals and as a member of the Tempest Trio he has toured the world.

Ilya Kaler, now a sought-after teacher received his education at the Moscow Central Music School and was influenced, and inspired by his long-time mentor Abram Shtern. Since 2018 he has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music and has held professorships in Rochester, Bloomington and the DePaul University School of Music in Chicago.