[1] Born into a family of an orchestral musician, Ilya Kaler showed musical talent from an early age.
At the Central Music School for Especially Gifted Children of the Moscow Conservatory he studied under Zinaida Gilels.
He continued his studies with Leonid Kogan and Viktor Tretiakov at the Conservatory, where he earned both master's and doctorate degrees, and graduated with the Gold Medal Award.
[3] Since 2007, Kaler has performed with cellist Amit Peled and pianist Alon Goldstein as the Tempest Trio both in the concert hall and in the recording studio.
[8] The recordings released in the last ten years include works by Eugène Ysaÿe, Bach, Brahms, Schumann, Shostakovich, Glazunov, Szymanowski, Dvorak, Paganini, Tchaikovsky and Messiaen.