Maxim Vengerov

Universally hailed as one of the world's greatest musicians, and often referred to as the greatest living string player, Grammy winner Maxim Vengerov also enjoys international recognition as a conductor and is one of the most in-demand soloists.

Born in 1974, he began his career as a solo violinist at the age of five, winning the international Wieniawski and Carl Flesch competitions at 10 and 15 respectively. He studied with Galina Tourchaninova and Zakhar Bron, made his first recording at age 10, and went on to record for prestigious labels such as Melodia, Teldec, and EMI, notably winning a Grammy and the Gramophone Artist of the Year award.

In 2007, following in the footsteps of his mentor, the late Mstislav Rostropovich, he turned to conducting and was appointed the first Chief Conductor of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra in 2010. In June 2014, Mr. Vengerov earned a Diploma of Excellence from the Moscow Ippolitov-Ivanov Institute in Professor Yuri Simonov's class, and then completed an additional two-year program in opera conducting.

In recent years, as a violinist, he has opened the season of the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala with Riccardo Chailly and the Shanghai International Music Festival with Christoph Eschenbach. He also celebrated 40 years on stage with a sold-out concert at the Royal Albert Hall, performing Brahms' Violin Concerto and Double Concerto, before embarking on a worldwide recital tour. His 50th birthday celebrations in the 2024-2025 season included the launch of his three-season Perspectives series at Carnegie Hall, where he will perform over 12 concerts in partnership with other renowned musicians, including Ivan Fischer, Evgeny Kissin, Yefim Bronfman, Alisa Weilerstein, Steven Isserlis, Sir Antonio Pappano, and Martha Argerich.

In 2020, Maxim Vengerov became Classic FM's first solo Artist in Residence and 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-Saëns. A new live video recording of the Tchaikovsky Concerto, captured during the concert at the Konzerthaus in Vienna in November 2025 with Maestro Chung and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, is now available on Maxim Vengerov's YouTube channel, as well as on Mezzo and Medici. He also made a live recording of his Carnegie Hall recital in 2018.

Teaching and encouraging young talent being one of Mr. Vengerov's greatest passions, he has held various teaching positions worldwide, including at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, as well as the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2018, Maxim Vengerov became a Goodwill Ambassador for the Musica Mundi School, a unique institution that supports young talent. Driven by the vision of democratizing access to music education, he launched his own online platform in January 2021: www.maximvengerov.com, reaching over 170 countries and more than 190 million people. Its first-year programs include partnerships with music institutions worldwide, the Lottery Ticket program, a guest artist series inaugurated with Brett Yang of TwoSet Violin, and a new global community group whose initiatives include the world-leading mentorship program, the rural music communities initiative, and the music correspondents program for children.

Mr. Vengerov has been the subject of several documentaries, including Playing by Heart, produced by Channel Four Television and presented at the Cannes Television Festival in 1999, and Living the Dream, released worldwide and awarded the Gramophone Award for Best Documentary in 2008.

Mr. Vengerov has received prestigious fellowships and distinctions from numerous institutions. In 2012, he was awarded an Honorary Visiting Fellowship at Trinity College, Oxford, and in 2019, he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Music in London.

Mr. Vengerov has also received numerous awards, including the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist (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 the World Economic Forum's Crystal Award (2007), recognizing artists who have used their art to improve the state of the world, as well as the Order of the Knight awarded by the Palace of Monaco, where he resides.

Among other instruments, he plays the ex-Kreutzer Stradivarius (1727).

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