Maxim Vengerov is a brilliant young Russian
violinist, born in
Novosibirsk in Siberia on 20 August 1974. He won the Junior
Wieniawski Competition at the age of 10, and in 1990 won the
Carl Flesch International Competition. He has toured the world ever since, recognized as one of the world's best and most
exciting, and working with all sorts of leading conductors and orchestras. (See http://www.warnerclassics.com/teldec/a/vengerov/biography.html for a fairly full list.) His first appearance in the west was in 1989, at the age of 14, with the
Concertgebouw.
His recording of the Prokofiev and Shostakovich first violin concertos with the LSO under Rostropovich was named the Gramophone Record of the Year in 1995. It was also nominated for two Grammy Awards. The previous year the magazine had named him Best Young Artist.
He plays the "ex Kiesewetter" Stradivarius of 1723.
In 1997 Vengerov was appointed an honorary envoy for music by UNICEF, whatever onerous duties that might involve. He moved to Tel Aviv in 1990 and now lives in Amsterdam.