June 19: Violinist Mark Kaplan and Pianist David Kaplan Release Father-Son Album on Orchid Classics – Featuring the Brahms Sonatas
Violinist Mark Kaplan and Pianist David Kaplan
Release Father-Son Album via Orchid Classics on June 19
Featuring the Brahms Sonatas
Release Date (Worldwide): June 19, 2026
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davidkaplanpiano.com | markkaplanviolin.com | orchidclassics.com
Violinist Mark Kaplan and pianist David Kaplan release their first album together, a recording of the Brahms Violin Sonatas (Nos. 1-3), on June 19, 2026 via Orchid Classics. This album highlights Mark and David Kaplan’s years of shared connection as musicians, and as father and son, through their joint exploration of three violin sonatas by Brahms.
A soloist of international distinction, violinist Mark Kaplan has performed with nearly every American, European and Australian orchestra, collaborating with many of the world's great conductors, from Ormandy to Salonen. His multi-decade career has been equally dedicated to chamber music, and he has built a discography encompassing everything from Sarasate to Beethoven to Nono, as well as two complete recordings of Bach’s solo violin works. David Kaplan is a New York-born piano soloist and chamber musician, widely acclaimed for recital programs artfully connecting new and old music. He has performed concerti at London’s Barbican, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and with the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Hawaii, and San Antonio. His recording of Valerie Coleman’s Revelry was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY, and his 2024 solo debut, New Dances of the League of David, was lauded by The Financial Times, Gramophone, Fanfare, and more.
In their own unique way, the Kaplans represent a familiar story of musical lineage, with three generations of professional and amateur musicians charting their own paths. Brothers David and Edwin followed in the footsteps of their parents (who met as teenagers studying with Dorothy DeLay) and grew into their own musical success, with David embracing the piano and his brother becoming the violist of the award-winning Tesla Quartet and Duo Kayo. Chamber music, more than most other family pastimes and bonding experiences, was interwoven into the Kaplan family's everyday life –– particularly for Mark and David who have performed together in various settings over the years.
Mark and David come together in this recording as individuals with their own artistic voices, matching the equality of the roles of violin and piano in these Sonatas. Brahms lets both instruments share the responsibility of conveying the multifaceted emotions and expressions, giving these works a deeper sense of partnership quite fitting for this familial endeavor.
David writes in the liner notes for the album, “In Mozart the violin often accompanies the piano; in Franck the piano mostly accompanies the violin; but in Brahms neither instrument accompanies for more than a few bars. He treats the violin and piano as co-equal actors, each representing diverse voices and characters, engaged in multifaceted conversations, moods, and worlds.”
While any recording in some sense represents a culmination, for David and Mark Kaplan, this recording also represents a beginning. David says, “We hope you hear these performances as if entering into the middle of a decades-long conversation.”
For more information on each of the works, read the album’s liner notes here.
About Mark Kaplan:
A soloist of international distinction, violinist Mark Kaplan has performed with nearly every American, European and Australian orchestra, and with many of the world’s great conductors, including Ormandy, Rattle, Maazel, Masur, Dutoit, Salonen, Semkov, Skrowaczewski, and Tennstedt. He has made highly acclaimed concerto and recital appearances in all the musical centers of America and Europe, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. Kaplan is also devoted to chamber music, appearing
with pianist Yael Weiss and cellist Peter Stumpf as the Weiss-Kaplan-Stumpf Trio, with recordings and concert tours world-wide. Prior to that he performed and recorded extensively for two decades in the Golub-Kaplan-Carr Trio with cellist Colin Carr and the late pianist David Golub. Especially known for interpretations of 20-21st century works and the great German classics, his extensive discography of over 45 commercial CDs includes concerti, solo and chamber works from Paganini, Bartok, Berg, Sarasate and Nono to Schubert, Brahms and Schumann, as well as two complete recordings of Bach’s solo violin works. Since 2005 he has been Professor of Violin at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, following a decade as Professor at UCLA. Kaplan is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Dorothy DeLay.
About David Kaplan:
David Kaplan is a New York-born piano soloist and chamber musician, widely acclaimed for recital programs artfully connecting new and old music. He has performed concerti at London’s Barbican, Berlin’s Philharmonie, and with the Symphony Orchestras of Baltimore, Hawaii, and San Antonio. His recording of Valerie Coleman’s “Revelry” was nominated for a 2025 GRAMMY, and his 2024 solo debut, New Dances of the League of David, was lauded by Financial Times, Gramophone, Fanfare, and more. His solo recitals have brought him to the Ravinia Festival, Strathmore, Washington’s National Gallery, and New York’s Carnegie and Merkin Halls. Kaplan is a passionate advocate for contemporary American composers – he has commissioned new works from Timo Andres, Christopher Cerrone, Anthony Cheung, Donnacha Dennehy, Caroline Shaw, Augusta Read Thomas, and many others. Kaplan’s numerous collaborators include Tessa Lark, Colin Carr, and the Ariel, Attacca, Formosa, and Tesla String Quartets. He has performed at La Jolla SummerFest, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and is a founding member of Decoda, the affiliate ensemble of Carnegie Hall. Kaplan is the Associate Professor and Inaugural Shapiro Family Chair in Piano Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, where he has taught since 2016. Kaplan’s teachers included Claude Frank and Walter Ponce. Away from the keyboard, he loves cartooning and cooking, and is mildly obsessed with classic cars.
Brahms: The Violin Sonatas
Orchid Classics
Release Date (Worldwide): June 19, 2026
Mark Kaplan, Violin
David Kaplan, Piano
Track List:
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
1. I Vivace ma non troppo [10:39]
2. II Adagio [7:59]
3. III Allegro molto moderato [8:55]
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
4. I Allegro amabile [8:27]
5. II Andante tranquillo – Vivace [6:18]
6. III Allegretto grazioso (quasi andante) [5:27]
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
7. I Allegro [7:46]
8. II Adagio [4:36]
9. III Un poco presto e con sentimento [3:03]
10. IV Presto agitato [5:47]
Total Time [69:01]
Producer, Engineer, and Editor: Eric Silberger
Mixing and Mastering: Silas Brown
Assistant engineer: Aidan McLain
Piano tuner: Sean McLaughlin
Photography: Dario Acosta
Bösendorfer 280VC kindly provided by Yamaha Artist Services
Recorded at the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center, UCLA Herb Alpert School of
Music, Los Angeles, CA on June 14-16, 2024