Lake Co. violin star returns home for recital

"It felt quite glad at all the need and misfortune it had suffered. Now it realized its happiness in all the splendor that surrounded it. And the great swans swam round it, and stroked it with their beaks," goes a quote from Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling."

For up-and-coming musical prodigy, David Lisker, 21, of Hawthorn Woods, there's a parallel to be drawn between the allegory and Lisker's own humble beginnings.

Born in Novosibirsk, Russia, to a violist father and pianist mother, Lisker was brought to America as a political refugee when he was just 4½ years old. He attended public schools rather than private music conservatories, the family lived in small apartments in poor neighborhoods and were unable to afford luxuries but Lisker never thought of his life as difficult.

It was through the kindness of others, or as David refers to them as "angles," that the Liskers were able to find a way to nurture their son's talent; whether it was to get a violin for David, a discount on renting an instrument or a scholarship for lessons. Such serendipitous events gave David "the chance to dream as big as I wanted to," he said.

At 14, David was accepted into the famed Perlman Music Program in New York, run by world renowned violinist, conductor and pedagogue, Itzhak Perlman, considered one of the most distinguished violinists of the late 20th century.

"Initially I didn't want to go away to some camp. I missed my family," recalls David. He didn't realize the elite program nurtures musical prodigies, ages of 12-18, from all over the United States and from around the world. "But then I went and saw how serious everyone was about music. I had never met so many people who were so different from who I am and yet felt so connected to all of them; so much more than to any of the kids at the public schools I had attended. All I could think was that I want to be in this world and I want to be around these kinds of people," Lisker said.

The intensive six-week summer residency program encompasses a rigorous schedule that required daily practice sessions of a minimum of four hours, private and group lessons, participation in chamber groups and orchestras, and even singing in a chorus.

"I first became acquainted with David in the summer of 1999 when he was just about to turn 15," Itzhak Perlman said. "He was my student during the six-week program and then for the next four summers. (David) is highly gifted and … possesses the talent and the ability to communicate through the instrument, a combination essential to a performing artist."

As an active member of the Perlman Chamber Orchestra, Lisker has since traveled to Israel and China, participated in the "Live from Lincoln Center," PBS broadcast and has performed in the most prestigious halls throughout the world including Carnegie Hall, The Shanghai Theater, The Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Israel and at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Currently studying at the Manhattan School of Music, one of the premier music conservatories in the world, David continues to impress music such luminaries as Pinchas Zuckerman, music director of the National Arts Centre Orchestre in Ontario, Canada, with his dedication. "David is a bright young violinist with a promising future ahead of him," Zuckerman said.

On Dec. 15, the Rising Stars Recital Series will be bringing the Piano String Quintet, featuring David Lisker, Bela Horvath and Tom Palny on violin, with Leat Sabbah on cello to the Christian Heritage Academy in Northfield.

For ticket information call: (847) 272-7003 or visit www.liskermusic.org.