Roman Spitzer was born in St. Petersburg, where he studied with Vladimir Mazel at the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg Conservatory. After emigrating to Israel in 1990, he studied with Gad Lewertoff at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University. He was appointed Principal Violist of the Tel Aviv Symphony Orchestra and served as a member of the New Tel Aviv String Quartet before being appointed Principal Violist and youngest member of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta in 2000. In 2016, Spitzer was named Principal Violist of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He has led the viola sections of the London Philharmonic, Australian Chamber, Munich Philharmonic, and Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestras, among others, and has collaborated with renowned conductors including Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Ricardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, and Mstislav Rostropovich on stages including the Berlin Philharmonic, Carnegie, Royal Albert, and Suntory Halls.