Nachum Erlich (1959–2023)
Filled with deep sadness, we convey the sad news that Nachum Erlich, Professor of Violin and Prorector for Artistic Practice at the Karlsruhe University of Music, passed away yesterday after a short, serious illness. Our deepest sympathy goes to the family of the deceased as well as to all people who were closely connected to him personally and professionally.
With Nachum Erlich, the Karlsruhe University of Music has lost a passionate musician and pedagogue who dedicated himself for more than 30 years to the artistic education of the students entrusted to his care. A gifted networker, he established local, regional and international contacts from which his graduates, whom he cared for with caring compassion, benefited far beyond their student years. Former students of Nachum Erlich, among them members of his own family, play in many orchestras and chamber music formations.
Yet his musical interests extended far beyond his own instrument. Nachum Erlich knew, appreciated and cultivated an extensive musical repertoire, ranging from solo pieces to ensemble and orchestral music to opera, and he sought musical interaction. In a special way, he understood the settings of his work as a combination of teaching and learning in a comprehensive sense, and artistic expression as a reflection of sonic and emotional modes of perception.
Born in Jerusalem in 1959, the sixteen-year-old Nachum Erlich became a master student of the famous Max Rostal. From 1981 he worked at the Sibelius Academy Helsinki, with which he remained associated until his death. In 1991 he accepted a professorship for violin at our university, where he also took over the direction of the chamber orchestra in 2001. In addition to his artistic and pedagogical activities, Nachum Erlich was involved in the committees for the quality development of the university. For many years he was a member of the Senate and head of the string instruments section. In October 2022, Nachum Erlich was elected Vice-Rector for Artistic Practice - a post he held with great pleasure and recognizable pride, fed by the awareness of the enormous importance of
of the interaction between the artistic departments. His death also leaves a painfully felt gap in the university leadership. We will remember Nachum Erlich with gratitude as a person who was always ready to talk, spirited and energetic, as an eminent teacher and colleague who still had many plans personally and professionally, but who was always aware that life always takes place in the now and does not tolerate procrastination. The certainty that Nachum Erlich led an energetic, fulfilled life is, despite all sadness, reconciliatory.
Prof. Dr. Matthias Wiegandt, Rector
Prof. Dr. Mirjam Boggasch, Prorector
Prof. Dr. Peter Overbeck, Prorector
Daniela Schneider, Chancellor
Karlsruhe, March 16, 2023