Born in 1973, David Gaillard began his musical training at the National School of Music (ENM) in Mulhouse, where he was awarded Gold Medals in violin, piano and music theory. He continued his studies at the ENM in Aulnay-sous-Bois, where he was awarded First Prizes for Excellence in violin and viola, and the First Prize for chamber music.

Admitted as the top-ranked candidate to the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris in Jean Sulem’s viola class, he was unanimously awarded the First Prize with the jury’s congratulations, as well as the First Prize in harmony by unanimous decision and the Second Prize in counterpoint. He then went on to the postgraduate programme, during which he studied under Bruno Pasquier, Hatto Beyerle and Veronika Hagen, amongst others.

As principal viola of the Orchestre de Paris, he also performs in chamber music ensembles with artists such as Christoph Eschenbach, Menahem Pressler, Xavier Phillips, Marc Coppey and David Grimal at prestigious venues (the Messiaen Festival, the Nuits musicales catalanes, Théâtre du Châtelet, Salle Pleyel, and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence).

David Gaillard has collaborated with the Ensemble intercontemporain, IRCAM, the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille, the Itinéraire ensemble and the TM+ ensemble; he is also a member of the chamber orchestra Les Dissonances and the Yiddish group Sirba Octet.