Maxim Vengerov facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Maxim Vengerov
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| Background information | |
| Native name |
Максим Александрович Венгеров
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| Birth name | Maxim Alexandrovich Vengerov |
| Born | 20 August 1974 Novosibirsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | Error: Need valid death date (first date): year, month, day |
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| Instruments | Violin, viola |
| Years active | 1984–present |
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| Associated acts | Zakhar Bron |
Maxim Vengerov (born August 20, 1974) is a famous violin player, viola player, and conductor. He was born in the Soviet Union and is now an Israeli citizen. Many people, including Classic FM, call him "one of the greatest violinists in the world."
Maxim started his musical journey very early. He sang in his mother's choir when he was just three years old. He began learning the violin at age five. His first teacher was Galina Turchaninova.
When he was 10, Maxim won a big competition called the International Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition. This was the start of his amazing career. He later studied with a famous teacher named Zakhar Bron. Maxim followed his teacher from the Soviet Union to London and then to Germany. In 1990, he won another important competition, the International Carl Flesch Competition. This helped him get a recording contract and become known worldwide.
Maxim moved to Israel with his family in 1990. He continued his music studies there. He has also worked as a conductor and a teacher. He was the first chief conductor of the Menuhin Festival Gstaad Orchestra. He also teaches at places like the Royal College of Music in London. Maxim has won many awards, including a Grammy. He plays a very special violin made in 1727 by Stradivarius.
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Maxim's Early Life and Training
Maxim Vengerov was born in Novosibirsk, a city in the Soviet Union. He was the only child of Aleksandr and Larisa Borisovna. His father was an oboe player, and his mother directed a children's choir at an orphanage. Maxim is Jewish.
He started singing in his mother's choir when he was three. At age five, he began violin lessons with Galina Turchaninova. She asked him if his hands were strong enough. Maxim, being a five-year-old, playfully punched her in the stomach! Luckily, she was in a good mood and accepted him as a student.
Lessons were tough at first. Ms. Turchaninova was very strict. One time, Maxim refused to play for five lessons in a row. His teacher told his mother she would stop teaching him. When his mother started to cry, Maxim picked up his violin. He played 17 songs he had learned, all from memory, without stopping. Even though he had refused to play in lessons, he had been practicing. A fellow student, Natalie Gottlieb, had encouraged him. Ms. Turchaninova agreed to keep teaching him. She said, "A violinist like Maxim is born only once in a hundred years."
When Maxim was 10, he won the 1984 International Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition in Lublin, Poland. That same year, he made his first recording on an LP. At age 11, he made another recording, this time a digital one. Then he went to London and recorded his first CD.
For the next five years, Maxim studied with Zakhar Bron. In 1987, Mr. Bron moved from the Soviet Union to teach at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Maxim followed him. When Mr. Bron moved to Germany, Maxim followed again. In 1990, Maxim won the International Carl Flesch Competition. This led to a recording contract and started his international career.
Maxim's Adult Career and Achievements
Maxim Vengerov moved to Israel with his family in 1990 when he was 16. He studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. He feels a strong connection to Israel. He has said that Israel "is in my genes" and that his "heart and soul belong to Israel." He even goes to Israel when there are conflicts. He says, "I feel I’m a soldier with my rifle in my violin and bow."
In 1992, Maxim played a Mozart violin concerto at the Salzburg Festival. In 2006, he started a music school in northern Israel called Musicians of Tomorrow. This school is run by a former lead violinist of the Israel Philharmonic. Maxim also has a home in Migdal, Israel, near Lake Kinneret. He has performed at events remembering the Holocaust.
In 1997, Maxim became the first classical musician to be a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. He performed for children in places like Uganda, Thailand, and Kosovo. A TV show called Playing by Heart was made about Maxim meeting young musicians. It was shown at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.
Later, Maxim studied how to play the Baroque violin. In 2005, he hurt his right shoulder while lifting weights. While he recovered, he became very interested in conducting music. He had surgery on his shoulder and spent a year getting better.
In 2010, Maxim became the first chief conductor of the Menuhin Festival Gstaad Orchestra. He continued to study conducting and earned a special diploma in 2014. He then studied opera conducting for two more years. He has also performed new violin concertos by modern composers.
From 2019 to 2020, Maxim was a special artist with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra. He is also an Ambassador and Visiting Professor at the Menuhin Music Academy in Switzerland. He is a Visiting Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music in London. Besides teaching, Maxim has been a judge for many music competitions. These include the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. He was also the head judge for the Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition in 2011 and 2016. In 2021, he appeared in a video with the YouTubers TwoSet Violin, where he gave a master class. In 2013, he conducted the final rounds of the Montreal International Violin Competition.
Awards and Special Recognitions
Maxim Vengerov has received many awards and honors for his musical talent.
Major Awards
- 1984: Won the International Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition.
- 1990: Won the International Carl Flesch Competition in London.
- 1994, 1995: Received two Gramophone Classical Music Awards.
- 1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004: Won five Edison Classical Music Awards.
- 1997, 2003: Received two Echo Music Prizes.
- 2003: Won a Grammy Award for his solo performance with an orchestra.
- 2004: Won a Classic Brit Award.
- 2007: Received the World Economic Forum Crystal Award. This award is for leading artists who inspire positive change.
Special Honors
- He holds an Honorary Visiting Fellowship at Trinity College, Oxford.
- He has received honors from the Royal Academy of Music.
Orders and Medals
- He has received the National Order of Merit of Romania.
- He has received the Saarland Order of Merit.
- 2019: He was made a Knight of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco).
Maxim's Famous Violin
Maxim Vengerov plays a very special violin. It was made in 1727 by Stradivarius, a famous Italian violin maker. This violin is called the "ex-Kreutzer" Stradivarius. It was owned by Rodolphe Kreutzer, a violinist to whom Beethoven dedicated his 9th Violin Sonata.
On April 1, 1998, Maxim bought this violin at an auction. He had help from a Japanese patroness, Countess Yoko Nagae Ceschina, and a violin dealer, Haim Lazarov. He bought it for £947,500.
Maxim's Family Life
In 2011, Maxim Vengerov married Olga Gringolts. Olga is an art historian and the sister of another violinist, Ilya Gringolts. Maxim and Olga have two daughters and one son. Their family lives in Monaco.
See also
In Spanish: Maksim Venguérov para niños
