JERRY EPSTEIN , a native Angeleno, joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a violist is 1968 while in his junior year at the University of Southern California. He studied with William Primrose, Milton Thomas, Abe Skernick, Peter Schidloff, Lillian Fuchs, Gabor Rejto, Lawrence Lesser, and Sanford Schonbach. He received his Bachelor of Music ( magna cum laude ) as well as his Masters of Music from USC.

Jerry comes from a family devoted to music. His Uncle Max was a child violin prodigy who was brought to the U.S. from Russia by Los Angeles Philharmonic founder William Andrews Clark. Jerry's mother, among her list of musical accomplishments, played in the Los Angeles Philharmonic for 16 years. His father was a french hornist. His daughter, Jami plays tenor sax, electric bass, piano/keyboards,composes songs but her greatest passion is cooking. She is a "Chef-in-Training" under the mentorship of Chef Josie LeBalch of JOSIE Restaurant in Santa Monica, CA. His wife, Rebecca Dru, is a multi-award winning, grammy nominated singer/songwriter/composer.

Jerry was the principal violist in the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas and Lawrence Foster, as well as the YMF Trio. He was also principal violist in the Westside Symphony and USC Symphony; a member of the GlendaleSymphony, Pasadena Symphony and UCLA Faculty Chamber Orchestra. Jerry was co-founder of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet. He was also one of the founding members of the Midnight Strings, who opened many a concert for Donovan and prior to that was a member of Mariano and the Unbelievables. Jerry appeared as a soloist with the USC Symphony, Claremont Music Festival, and with Pierre Boulez at the Ojai Festival. He is a former faculty member of the University of California, Irvine, and Cal State Los Angeles and is currently teaching at California State University, Long Beach as well as privately. Many of his former students are now members of major symphony orchestras.

Mr. Epstein is a three-time winner of the Coleman Artists' Award and is also a past winner of the Vera Barstow and Nadia Dekibort Awards.

Over the years Mr. Epstein has worked with and/or recorded numerous symphonic works with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Roberto Abbado, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert Blomstedt, Victor Borge. Pierre Boulez, Aaron Copland, Antal Dorati, Gustavo Dudamel, Arthur Fiedler, Larry Foster, Rafael Frubeck de Burgos, Grant Gershon, Carlo Maria Giulini, Sidney Harth, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Marek Janowski, Danny Kaye, Eric Kunzel, Erich Leinsdorf, Daniel Lewis, Jaime Loredo, Henry Mancini, Zubin Mehta, Bobby McFerrin, David Allen Miller, Kent Nagano, Mikhail Pletnev, Roger Norrington, Eugene Ormandy, Andre Previn, Simon Rattle, Mstislov Rostropovich, Gennady Rozhdestrensky, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kurt Sanderling, Peter Sellars, Yasuo Shinozaki, Calvin Simmons, Neil Stulberg, Yuri Temirkenov, Michael Tilson Thomas, Franz Welser-Most, Mark Wigglesworth and John Williams

Jerry's international engagements have taken him to the Festivals of Salzburg, Torino, Luzern, Berlin, Edinburgh, Helsinki, Settembre Musica (Toronto), and the BBC Proms (London) as well as Theatre du Chatelet in Paris. He has participated in numerous music festivals in the United States, including those of La Jolla, Santa Barbara and Aspen.
Among the many venues he has played:
AUSTRIA: Musikverein (Vienna), Brucknerhaus (Linz), Kongresshaus (Innsbruck),
BELGIUM: St. Bavo Cathedral (Ghent), Sint-Pieterskerk (Ghent), Palais des Beaux Art (Brussels), Sint-Pieterskerk - Eglise St. Pierre (Leuven),
CANARY ISLANDS:Teatro Pérez Galdós (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria)Teatro Guimerá (Santa Cruz de Tenerife)
DENMARK: Tivoli Koncertsal (Copenhagen)
ENGLAND: Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall (London), Symphony Hall (Birmingham), Free Trade Hall, The Bridgewater Hall (Manchester)
FINLAND: Finlandia Hall (Helsinki)
FRANCE: Theatre du Chatelet (Paris), Salle Pleyel (Paris), Palais des Congres (Strasbourg), Stadthalle (Freiburg)
GERMANY: Grosse Musikhalle (Hamburg), Philharmonie (Berlin), Kolner Philharmonie (Cologne), Tonhalle (Dussledorf), Alte Oper (Frankfurt), Beethovenhalle (Bonn), Jahrhunderthalle (Frankfurt-Hoechst), Stadhalle (Freiburg)
ITALY: Teatro Comunale (Florence), Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Lingotto Fiere (Turino), Palazzo dei Congressi (Stresa), Teatro La Fenice (Venice)
JAPAN: Tokyo Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo), Hitomi Memorial Hall (Tokyo), Kanagawa Kenmin Hall (Yokohama), Ibaragi Kenmin Bunka Center (Mito), Kawanami Memorial Hall (Matsudo), Nagoya Shimin Kaikan (Nagoya), Osaka Festival Hall (Osaka), Wakayama Kenmin Bunka Kaikan (Wakayama), Sun Palace (Fukuoka),
KOREA: Sejong Cultural Center (Seoul),
NETHERLANDS: Concertgebouw (Amsterdam),
SCOTLAND: Usher Hall
SPAIN: Teatro Real (Madrid), Palau de la Musica (Barcelona), Palau de la Música de Valencia (Valencia), Palau de la Música Catalana (Barcelona)
SWITZERLAND: Casino (Basel), Casino (Bern), Victoria Hall (Geneva), Kultur and Kongresszentrum (Lucerne), Kunsthaus (Luzern), Maison des Congres (Montreux), Tonhalle (Zurich)
SPAIN: Auditorio Nacional de Música (Madrid),
USA: The Kennedy Center (Washington,D.C.), The Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles), The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion-Music Center (Los Angeles), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Avery Fisher Hall,Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall (New York), Long Island University (Brookville, NY, Prudential Hall: New Jersey Performing Arts Center (Newark, NJ),Bushnell Memorial Hall  (Hartford, CT),Broward Center for the Performing Arts  (Ft Lauderdale, FL),Kravis Center for the Performing Arts  (W. Palm Beach, FL), Dade County Auditorium  (Miami, FL), Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall  (Sarasota, FL), Sierra Center - Mission San Luis Rey (CA),

Jerry Epstein is currently a member of the Advisory Board for the Chamber Orchestra of New York
2005 Junior Chamber Music Program Beethoven String Quartet Coach
2004 Young Musician’s Foundation Audition Panel for Debut Orchestra