Maxim Vengerov
August 20, 1974 - Novossibirsk (Russia)
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Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most brilliant violinists.
Since he started playing the violin at the age of four, he has evolved from a precociously talented child into an assured virtuoso. After his first recital in his hometown of Novosibirsk at the age of five, he studied with Galina Tourchaninova and then with Professor Zakhar Bron. He went on to win the first Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition in Poland when he was just ten years old and, in 1990, aged fifteen, he took top honours at the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition. He performs throughout the world with the most prestigious orchestras, collecting accolades and awards along the way including a Grammy for his recording of the Britten Concerto in 2004 and an Edison for his solo recording in 2003, as well as a Gramophone Award in 1996.
In 1997, he became the first classical musician to be appointed Envoy for Music by the United Nations' Children's Fund (UNICEF), about which he said "I understood what miracles you can bring back to children with music, this is a universal language that everyone understands. It goes from heart to heart." In 2005, Maxim Vengerov took a year of sabbatical to study improvisation with Didier Lockwood, and to work on the premiere of a viola concerto by Benjamin Yusupov which was written for him. In 2006, he toured with the UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra and gave recitals of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Prokofiev and Shostakovich. He plays the “ex-Kreutzer” Stradivarius which was given to him by Mrs Yoko Nagae Ceschina.