Nachum Erlich was born in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1959. At the age of 8 he began his violin studies first with his father Moshe Erlich, member of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and then continued his studies at the Rubin Conservatory in Jerusalem with Yair Kless as principal teacher. Between 1975 and 1981 he was a master student of Max Rostal at the Bern Conservatory in Switzerland where he finished his studies with the concert diploma. In addition, he took part in master classes of Nathan Milstein and Henryk Szering. He continued further studies with Steven Staryk. From 1981 to 1991 Nachum Erlich was a teacher at the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, Finland. Since 1991 he has been Professor for Violin at the State Academy of Music in Karlsruhe, Germany. Since April 2001 Nachum Erlich has been appointed "Artist in Residence" at the University of Heidelberg.

As a soloist he has worked with acclaimed conductors Moshe Atzmon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Rudolf Baumgartner, Okko Kamu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Walter Weller and Sergiu Comissiona. Furthermore, he has taken particular pleasure in performing chamber music with colleagues such as Alfons Kontasrky, Siegfried Mauser, Kalle Randalu, Rudolf Meister, Julius Berger, Fany Solter, Martin Ostertag, Edward Vanderspar, Hartmut Rohde, Gustav Rivinius, Wolfgang Meyer and Eduard Brunner. Nachum Erlich is a frequent and highly welcomed guest at many international festivals. His performances have been broadcast and telecast. His special interest lies in the discovery and interpretation of rare works through all epochs and especially the oeuvre of Max Reger. A CD with Nachum Erlich and the pianist Siegfried Mauser playing Reger's Sonatas op. 122 and op. 139 was released in January 2004 by the Hänssler Verlag. Moreover, Nachum Erlich premiered "La Folia" by Reger in Karlsruhe and recorded Bach Double Concerto with Ivry Gitlis.

Nachum Erlich's career as a pedagogue began subsequent to the completion of his studies in Bern. In 1981 he was appointed as a lecturer of violin at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Here he prepared several students to enter international competitions, as well as acquiring positions in orchestras and as teacher. Since he assumed the professorship at the State Academy of Music in Karlsruhe he has extended his pedagogical activity in Europe and beyond. His students play in numerous orchestras and chamber music ensembles and hold positions as teachers and professors at several universities in South Korea (University of Seoul) and Japan (Hiroshima). He was in charge of many master classes in Europe, USA, South America and Asia. In South Korea and Japan he teaches and plays on a regular basis.

Erlich has devoted extraordinary effort to his work with chamber orchestras. As member and concertmaster of several internationally known ensembles such as the Festival Strings Lucerne, the Camerata Bern and the Basel Chamber Orchestra he has gained great experience, which he shares coaching chamber orchestras and young musicians' orchestras within and outside Germany. In 2001 he became leader of the Chamber Orchestra of the State Academy of Music Karlsruhe.