Elena Bashkirova

Born in Moscow, pianist Elena Bashkirova studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in the class of her father, the pedagogue Dimitri Bashkirov. In 1978, she left the Soviet Union and settled in Paris.

She is the founder and artistic director of the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, which she established in 1998 and has become a pillar of Israel's cultural life.A partner festival, "Intonations," was launched in Berlin in 2012.The festival's ensemble regularly performs in major halls and festivals across Europe.

Elena Bashkirova's repertoire ranges from classical to 20th-century music, and she has collaborated with conductors such as Pierre Boulez and Sergiu Celibidache.
She maintains long-standing partnerships with conductors like Lawrence Foster and Ivor Bolton.

Her 2024-2025 season is eventful, with solo recitals in Naples and Berlin, and concerts with the Orchestre National de Bordeaux and the Israel Chamber Orchestra.
She will also participate in the Schubertiade and the Shostakovich Festival in Leipzig in May 2025.

In 2020, Elena Bashkirova was named president of the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Foundation in Leipzig, succeeding conductor Kurt Masur.
She also received an honorary doctorate from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2018.

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