David Starkweather was declared by Pierre Fournier to be "one of the best cellists of his generation." Starkweather was awarded a certificate of merit as semifinalist in the 1986 Tchaikovsky Competition. Since 1983 he has been professor of cello at the University of Georgia School of Music in Athens. He has performed and taught at festivals in Korea, Brazil, and the United States, and has also performed in Canada and Europe. Growing up near San Francisco, Starkweather attended the Eastman School of Music. This was followed by graduate studies with cellist Bernard Greenhouse at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, earning a doctorate degree in 1983. In 1985 Starkweather spent six months in Switzerland for intensive work with Pierre Fournier, earning the famous French cellist's accolade given above. Bernard Greenhouse wrote, "My student for four years, David Starkweather has given me great pleasure as a gifted cellist, a fine person, and a dignified young artist." A review in Atlanta praised "the sensitive phrasing and Starkweather's obvious technical facility." His CD of cello sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninov with pianist Evgeny Rivkin was released by Mark Records, New York, and another CD with Rivkin featuring sonatas by Beethoven, Brahms, and Britten was released in 2002. Starkweather's publications include various articles in American String Teacher and Strings magazines, and an edition of two Locatelli sonatas published by Artaria Editions, Wellington, New Zealand. His cello is a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume from c.1830.