Maxim Vengerov

Born in 1974, he began his career as a solo violinist at the age of 5, won the Wieniawski and Carl Flesch international competitions at ages 10 and 15 respectively, made his first recording at the age of 10 and went on to record extensively for high-profile labels including Melodia, Teldec and EMI, earning among others, Grammy and Gramophone artist of the year awards. Tireless in his search for new means of creative expression, Maxim Vengerov followed in the footsteps of his mentors, Mstislav Rostropovich and Daniel Barenboim, and turned his attention to conducting. Mr Vengerov has since conducted major orchestras around the world and in 2010 was appointed the first chief conductor of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra. In the last few seasons Maxim Vengerov has performed as soloist and/or conductor with all major orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Chicago, Montreal and Toronto Symphony Orchestras and toured extensively around the world in Recital. In 2020 Maxim Vengerov became Classic FM’s first solo Artist in Residence and he released a new recording of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, coupled with works by Saint-Säens and Ravel as well as a live recital from Carnegie Hall. Maxim Vengerov has received numerous awards including Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) (2003), two Gramophone awards (1994, 1995), a Classical Brit Award (2004), five Edison Classical Music Awards (1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004), two ECHO awards (1997, 2003) and a World Economic Forum Crystal award (2007) – honouring artists who have used their art to improve the state of the world.

Maxim Vengerov plays the ex-Kreutzer Stradivari (1727).