Leonidas Kavakos is a Greek violinist and conductor.
16 Facts About Leonidas Kavakos
2.
Leonidas Kavakos made his concert debut at the Athens Festival in 1984.
3.
Leonidas Kavakos took first prizes at the Naumburg Competition in New York and the Paganini Violin Competition.
4.
Leonidas Kavakos's United States debut was in 1986, and, in the following year, he gave recitals at venues across the country.
5.
In Europe, following his competition win in Helsinki, Leonidas Kavakos' reputation spread quickly.
6.
Leonidas Kavakos has appeared at festivals such as the Verbier Festival, Salzburg Festival, the Lucerne Festival, and the Stars of White Nights Festival.
7.
In 1991, the original version of Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor was permitted a performance and a recording by Sibelius' heirs on the BIS record label; both original and final versions were played by Leonidas Kavakos and conducted by Osmo Vanska.
8.
Leonidas Kavakos has appeared throughout the UK with numerous orchestras, starting in 1992 with his performance of the Stravinsky Violin Concerto at the BBC Proms.
9.
Leonidas Kavakos made a highly successful Japanese debut in 1988 including a recital at Tokyo's Casals Hall and has since toured Japan with the English Chamber Orchestra and given concerts with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the New Japan Philharmonic.
10.
Leonidas Kavakos was called "The Violinists' Violinist" by The Strad magazine.
11.
Leonidas Kavakos has made various other recordings for Delos and Finlandia Records with works by composers such as Debussy, Paganini, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, and Ysaye.
12.
Leonidas Kavakos is a keen chamber music performer, and presents his own chamber music festival annually in his home town of Athens as well as performing in many international festivals.
13.
Leonidas Kavakos was announced principal guest artist of the Camerata Salzburg in 2001 and performed with them as a soloist and conductor.
14.
Leonidas Kavakos had been playing the "Abergavenny" Stradivarius of 1724 since February 2010.
15.
Leonidas Kavakos sold the "Falmouth" Stradivarius of 1692, and a 1782 violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.
16.
Leonidas Kavakos now owns only the Willemotte and three modern violins, including one, as of 4 September 2010, by Florian Leonhard.