Violin
Mikhail Kopelman was born in 1947 in Uzhgorod, former USSR, and began his violin training at the age of 6. He studied with Maya Glezarova and Yuri Yankelevich at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1973 he won second prize in the Jacques Thibaud International Competition. He subsequently joined the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory and in 1975 became the concertmaster of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1976 he was appointed first violin of the Borodin String Quartet and played with this renowned ensemble for 20 years. After emigrating to the United States, he joined the Tokyo String Quartet as first violinist and became Professor of Chamber Music at Yale University. Presently, Mr. Kopelman is Professor of Music at the University of Rochester and has recently formed a new string quartet, the Kopelman String Quartet.