David Whiston grew up in Yorkshire, England and received violin lessons from his early childhood. He made his first television appearance at the age of 12. A year later he won first prize at the Blackpool Music Festival.

At 14 years old, Whiston was the youngest student ever to win a major scholarship to the Royal College of Music

Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...

, London. In 1957 he performed his debut recital at the Leighton House Museum

Leighton House Museum

Leighton House Museum is a museum in Holland Park, London, England. It is housed in the former home of the painter Frederic, Lord Leighton. The first part of the house was designed in 1864 by the architect George Aitchison, although Leighton was not granted a lease on the land until April 1866...

. He also won the Ricketts Prize of the Royal College of Music. His violin teacher was Erich Gruenberg

Erich Gruenberg

Erich Gruenberg is an Austrian-born British violinist and teacher.He was born in Vienna in 1924 and studied there and at the Jerusalem Conservatory. He led the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra 1938-45. He has lived in London since 1946. In 1947 he won the International Carl Flesch...

. From age 17 he regularly worked with the London Philharmonic Orchestra

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...

 and went on a world tour with this orchestra in the early 1960s.

Subsequently, he performed with the London Symphony Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

 that was led by John Georgiadis at the time. Over the next two decades he played with all the major London orchestras, becoming co-leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It tours widely, and is sometimes referred to as "Britain's national orchestra"...

. He worked under well-known conductors and musicians such as Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Adrian Boult, Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin

Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin, OM, KBE was a Russian Jewish American violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in the United Kingdom. He was born to Russian Jewish parents in the United States, but became a citizen of Switzerland in 1970, and of the United Kingdom in 1985...

, Igor Stravinsky

Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

, Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

, Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland

Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...

 and André Previn

André Previn

André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...

.

For a while he changed to lighter music. As Concert Master of the London Palladium Orchestra he accompanied many well-known artists such as Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...

, Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

, Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

, Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....

, Count Basie

Count Basie

William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...

 and Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...

.

During this time Whiston also undertook many commitments as a session player with The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

, The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

, Barry White

Barry White

Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...

, Deep Purple

Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...

, Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

 and many others. Before he moved to Switzerland in the late 70s he was Concert Master of The Royal Ballet Orchestra, London and accompanied Margot Fonteyn

Margot Fonteyn

Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias, DBE , was an English ballerina of the 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of all time...

 and Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a Russian dancer, considered one of the most celebrated ballet dancers of the 20th century. Nureyev's artistic skills explored expressive areas of the dance, providing a new role to the male ballet dancer who once served only as support to the women.In 1961 he...

.

In Zurich he was leading the second violins in the Opera House. After a short period back in England, Whiston returned to Switzerland for good at the beginning of the 1980s and since then has been working as a freelance musician. He accompanied the Zurich Chamber Orchestra

Zurich Chamber Orchestra

The Zurich Chamber Orchestra is a Swiss chamber orchestra based in Zurich. The ZKO's principal concert venue in Zurich is the Tonhalle. The ZKO also performs in Zurich at the Rietberg Museum, the ZKO-Haus in the Seefeld quarter of the city, and such churches as the Fraumünster and the Kirche St....

 as second Concert Master on a tour of England and played in various chamber music ensembles, trio concerts and recitals with among others Rudolf am Bach, Annette Weisbrod, Robert Wilson, Sir James Brown, Susan Drake, Thomas Demenga and Jörg E. Dähler.

David Whiston occasionally performs in benefit concerts, for example the one held on 18 June 2011, at the Rudolf Steiner School in Basel.

David Whiston's violin was made by Nicolò Amati

Nicolò Amati

Niccolò Amati was an Italian luthier from Cremona.-Biography:Nicolò Amati was the fifth son of Girolamo Amati and the grandson of Andrea Amati, the founder of the Amati Family of violin makers. Of all the Amati Family violins, those of Nicolò are often considered most suitable for modern playing...

, a member of one of the great violin-making families of Cremona. The maker's name and the date 1680 appear on the label inside the instrument. Scratched into the varnish on the back of the violin is the name of an early owner.

David Whiston's hobbies are pistol shooting and motoring.