| Violinist Country: Russia |
Maxim Vengerov, an Israeli violinist and conductor, was born in 1974 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, into a Jewish family. He was soon moved to Novosibirsk, where he grew up. Vengerov comes from a musical background, with his mother, Larisa Borisovna Vengerova, being the director of a music school and his father, Alexander Vengerov, working as an oboist in the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra. His family has roots in Slonim and Shavli.
At the age of 5, Vengerov began learning to play the violin under the guidance of Galina Stepanovna Turchaninova. When Turchaninova relocated to Moscow in 1981, Vengerov followed her and continued his studies at the Central Music School. He then returned to Novosibirsk in late 1983 and continued his education in the class of Zakhar Bron. In early 1984, Vengerov won the 1st prize at the Henryk Wieniawski and Karol Lipiński International Competition for Young Violinists.
In 1989, Vengerov and the families of his teacher, Zakhar Bron, as well as his fellow students Vadim Repin, Nikolai Madoev, and Natalia Prischepenko, moved to Lübeck, Germany. The following year, he obtained Israeli citizenship. Vengerov also holds German citizenship. In 1990, he won the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London, and in 1995, he was awarded the Italian Academy's Kigge Hvid Young Musician of the Year prize. Vengerov served as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and played for children in Uganda, Harlem, Thailand, and Kosovo. He is an honorary ambassador of Israeli culture and has been nominated for the Grammy Award six times, winning the Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra in 2003. In 2005, Vengerov taught at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2008, due to finger injuries, he announced a temporary pause in his performance career and focused on teaching and conducting. He returned to the stage as a performer in 2011. In 2020, he received the honorary title of professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.
Vengerov is married to art historian Olga Alexandrovna Gringolts, sister of violinist Ilya Gringolts. They have two daughters and currently reside in Monaco.
- Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit (2019, Monaco)
- Order for Merit to Culture (2009, Romania)
- Order of Merit (Saarland, Germany)
- Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance with Orchestra (2003)