Department of Music

Violinist David Sariti enjoys a multifaceted career, with performance and research interests that span four centuries.  Known for bringing fresh interpretive insight to works both familiar and unfamiliar, he has recently appeared as recitalist at universities across the country, as soloist with orchestra, and in diverse chamber collaborations.  A recent all-Mendelssohn piano trio program was hailed as “Chamber music at a high professional level, reflecting credit on the schools that choose to have their students taught by musicians who not only have academic credentials but are also first-class performing artists.” (Classical Voice of North Carolina).  An ardent proponent of new music, he has performed works by composers throughout the Southeast including UVA Professor Emeritus Judith Shatin.

Equally at home with earlier repertoires on the Baroque violin, Sariti has appeared with many notable chamber ensembles and orchestras, including the Washington Bach Consort, The Vivaldi Project, and others.  He is a member of “Mr. Jefferson’s Musicians”, which was founded along with members of the Baltimore Consort to perform music from the collection of Thomas Jefferson in a scholarly and musically engaging way.  The group was recently featured on the Gotham Early Music series in New York.  He has given numerous solo presentations on Jefferson’s music, and is featured on the CD “Music from the Jefferson Collection”.  An improviser of music both old and new, he also plays jazz with Greg Howard, John D’earth, and others.

Faculty at UVa since 2005, he is Director of the period-instrument Baroque Orchestra, performs in the Rivanna Quartet, and is Principal Violin II of the Charlottesville Symphony, having previously performed in over a dozen professional symphonies. His studio teaching emphasizes the development of a relaxed, efficient technique and comprehensive musicianship skills that enable students to make informed interpretive choices.  In 2016-17 he was chosen as part of the first cohort of College of Arts and Sciences Arts Fellows.  He has also taught violin and music history at the Hartt School, University of Hartford, and recently completed a term as Performance Chair of the College Music Society Mid-Atlantic Chapter.  His articles on topics ranging from performance practice to string pedagogy have been featured in Early Music America, American String Teacher, and American Music Teacher. He holds degrees from the Hartt School, the University of Akron, and Ithaca College; studies were with Pamela Gearhart, Katie Lansdale, Pamela Frank and members of the Cleveland and Miami quartets and the Meadowmount Trio.