Ehrhardt, Ernest (8th August 1946-17th August 2021)

Cello player born in Los Angeles, California, who was the youngest cello player to be hired by the Houston Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He was a long-time member of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra who started his tenure in 1972.

He has also amassed an impressive discography, going back at least as far as Frank Sinatra’s 1979 boxed set, Trilogy. In 1982, he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash on their album, Daylight Again.

He changed direction in 1988 on Straight Line Through Time by Broken Homes and saxophonist Brandon Fields’ The Traveler. In 1990, he made one of several forays into Latin music on Dori Caymmi’s Brazilian Serenata. Bonnie Raitt used his services on her 1991 album, Luck of the Draw. In 1993, he accompanied Roberto Livi on Eternamente Enamorado, and performed similar duties on Stefan Dickerson’s Romanza and Nancy Wilson’s Love, Nancy in 1994. It was back to Brazil on Dionne Warwick’s 1995 release, Aquarela do Brasil. He celebrated the Yuletide with David Foster on The Christmas album in 1995 and Michael Bolton on This is the Time: The Christmas Album in 1996, which saw him take another Latin turn with Vikki Carr on Emociones. In 1997, he helped Sam Salter announce It’s on Tonight.

He appeared on an eclectic mix of albums in 1998, including First Step in a Long Journey by The Brad Powell Experience, Manilow Sings Sinatra, The Nu Nation Project of Kirk Franklin, and The Movie Album: As Time Goes By, with Neil Diamond on lead vocals and Elmer Bernstein conducting. For those with short attention spans, The Best of the Movie Album was released in 1999. In 1999, Ernest also appeared on the Savage Garden album, Affirmation.

The new millennium saw him paired up with Kenny Rankin on A Song for You and Charlie Haden and Michael Brecker on American Dreams. In 2004, he performed on Akwid’s Latin rap album, Komp 104.9 Radio Compa. He participated in FutureSex/LoveSounds with Justin Timberlake in 2006, the same year that featured him in the orchestra on Paul Anka’s novelty album, Rock Swings. In 2007, he teamed up again with Paul Anka on Classic Songs: My Way, and helped the band in Introducing Joss Stone. He also appeared on Linus of Hollywood’s Attractive Singles.

Other artists and groups with whom he worked include Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Michael Jackson, Carmen Lundy, Madonna, Dolly Parton, Luciano Pavarotti , Sting, Barbra Streisand, and the Tulsa Philharmonic Quartet.

He was the principal cellist with The American Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, The Long Beach Symphony, The Pasadena Pops Orchestra, and The Tulsa Philharmonic. Ernest still performs with The Long Beach Symphony, with whom he performed with for two decades, and the Pasadena Pops.

He played for no less than five U.S. Presidents, and served on the faculty of Oral Roberts University. Fans of David Rose and/or The Lawrence Welk Show may remember him from some of his television work, back in the day. Ernest was a special guest soloist with the Santa Monica Symphony on 24^th May 2009, a program featuring the music of Georges Bizet, Franz Joseph Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn .

He passed away in California in August 2021 when he was 75 years old.

Here’s Neil Diamond performing “Moon River” from his The Movie Album: As Time Goes By, which Ernest performs on..

Sources:

Ehrhardt, Ernest (8th August 1946-17th August 2021)

Navigation