28 Facts About Maxim Vengerov

Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov is a Soviet-born Israeli violinist, violist, and conductor.

Maxim Vengerov began his musical journey early, singing in his mother's choir at the age of three and starting violin lessons at five with Galina Turchaninova.

At age 10, Maxim Vengerov won the 1984 International Karol Lipinski and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition, marking the start of his career.

Maxim Vengerov subsequently studied with Zakhar Bron, following him from the Soviet Union to the Royal Academy of Music in London and then to the Musikhochschule Lubeck in Germany.

In 1990, Maxim Vengerov won the International Carl Flesch Competition, securing a recording contract with Teldec and launching his international career.

Maxim Vengerov moved to Israel with his family in 1990, continuing his studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.

Maxim Vengerov's career includes contributions as a conductor and educator, serving as the first chief conductor of the Menuhin Festival Gstaad Orchestra and holding professorships at institutions like the Royal College of Music in London.

Maxim Vengerov has received numerous awards, including a Grammy and multiple Echo Music Prizes, and plays on the 1727 "ex-Kreutzer" Stradivarius violin.

Maxim Vengerov was born in Novosibirsk, the only child of Aleksandr and Larisa Borisovna, oboist and orphanage children's choir director respectively, and is Jewish.

Maxim Vengerov sang in his mother's choir from the age of three.

Maxim Vengerov began studying the violin at age five with Galina Turchaninova.

At one point, Maxim Vengerov stubbornly refused to play for her for five straight lessons.

Maxim Vengerov told his mother that she was dismissing him as a student.

Maxim Vengerov's mother began to cry, and upon seeing that, Vengerov picked up his violin and played 17 assigned pieces from memory without interruption.

At age 10, Maxim Vengerov won the 1984 International Karol Lipinski and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition in Lublin, Poland.

Maxim Vengerov then went to London, where he recorded his first CD, for Biddulph Records.

In 1990, Maxim Vengerov won the International Carl Flesch Competition, which led to a recording contract with Teldec and the launch of his international career.

Maxim Vengerov moved to Israel with his parents and grandmother in 1990, when he was 16.

Maxim Vengerov has a home in Migdal, Israel, near Lake Kinneret.

Maxim Vengerov has played in a number of events commemorating the Holocaust.

In 1997, Maxim Vengerov became the first classical musician to be appointed an International Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF, performing for children in Uganda, Thailand, and Kosovo.

Maxim Vengerov later took a two-year course in Baroque violin performance practice and repertoire.

Maxim Vengerov had surgery on the shoulder and a year of rehabilitation.

In 2010, Maxim Vengerov was appointed the first chief conductor of the Menuhin Festival Gstaad Orchestra.

Maxim Vengerov continued his conducting studies with Yuri Simonov, and graduated with a diploma of excellence from the Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical Pedagogical Institute in 2014.

Maxim Vengerov then enrolled in a further two-year program of opera conducting.

Maxim Vengerov is Ambassador and Visiting Professor at the Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland and Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music, London.

In 2011, Maxim Vengerov married Olga Gringolts, sister of the violinist Ilya Gringolts and an art historian.