Robert Ehrlich (born in 1965 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish recorder player and university professor. From October 2015 until 2019, he was rector of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin. Previously, he was rector of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig from 2006 to 2015.
Ehrlich was born in Belfast. He initially studied musicology at King's College, Cambridge. In 1990, he obtained a master's degree in ethnomusicology (M.Phil.). He then studied recorder with Walter van Hauwe at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
He performs worldwide as a soloist and in ensembles, including with the Academy of Ancient Music, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and The English Concert. His CD recordings include recordings of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos in three different pitches with Riccardo Chailly (A<sub>4</sub>=443 Hz), Trevor Pinnock (A<sub>4</sub>=415 Hz) and Richard Egarr (A<sub>4</sub>=392 Hz). The latter two recordings won Gramophone Awards in the categories "Best Baroque Instrumental" and "EditorâÂÂs Choice".
From 1990 to 1993, Ehrlich taught recorder and teaching methodology part time at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. He was also a guest lecturer for performance practice at the University of Southampton. Since 1993 he has been professor of recorder at the University of Music und Theatre Leipzig and since 1998 visiting professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2006, Ehrlich was elected rector of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig, where he was re-elected by a large majority for a second term by the Extended Senate in 2010.
In 2015, he was elected rector of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin by the Extended Academic Senate. In 2019, following the end of his period of office at the HfM Hanns Eisler Berlin, he resumed his tenure as professor in Leipzig. From 2019 to 2024 he was a member of the University Senate and was designated special representative of the Department of Composition and Music Theory in 2021.