Leonidas Kavakos

Leonidas Kavakos has established himself as a violinist and artist of unique quality, demonstrating the highest virtuosity and outstanding musicality. His exceptional talent first gained attention when he won the Sibelius Competition in 1985, followed by the Paganini Competition three years later. Since then, he has collaborated with the world's leading orchestras and conductors, building close relationships with many, including the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Riccardo Chailly, Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, La Scala Filharmonica, the New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. In Germany this season, Leonidas Kavakos is, among other engagements, Artist-in-Residence with the Berlin Philharmonic. Last season, he held this position with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, which included various concerts under Riccardo Chailly and Herbert Blomstedt, an extensive European tour, and a recital. He is a returning guest of the NDR Symphony Orchestra, performing this season under the baton of Thomas Hengelbrock, having previously opened the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in summer 2011 with the same orchestra under Semyon Bychkov. Orchestras that have engaged Leonidas Kavakos as a soloist in the future include the New York Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, the Chicago Symphony, and many others. In April 2012, he premiered Osvaldo Golijov's Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. With pianist Enrico Pace, he recorded all of Beethoven's sonatas, which will be released by Decca in January 2013. Leonidas Kavakos is a dedicated chamber musician and a regular guest at festivals in Verbier, Montreux, Edinburgh, and Salzburg. Last season, he presented a cycle of Beethoven sonatas with pianist Emmanuel Ax at Wigmore Hall London, which will also take them to the Vienna Musikverein in April 2013. Kavakos' chamber music partners also include Hélène Grimaud, the Capuçon brothers, and Elisabeth Leonskaja. With numerous orchestras with which Leonidas Kavakos already has an intensive collaboration as a soloist, he is increasingly working as both conductor and soloist. Last season, he led a major German orchestra for the first time with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. Leonidas Kavakos also made his conducting debut in 2011 with the Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Last season, he appeared as conductor and soloist with, among others, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Stockholm Philharmonic, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI in Turin, and repeatedly with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala. From 2007/08 until autumn 2009, Leonidas Kavakos was artistic director of the Camerata Salzburg, having been the orchestra's Principal Guest Artist since 2002. The violinist's diverse repertoire is also reflected in his discography. In 1991, he won the Gramophone Concert Award for the first recording of the original version of Sibelius' Violin Concerto (from 1903/04) on BIS. In 2001, a CD with works by Hindemith was released with the BBC Philharmonic (Chandos). Leonidas Kavakos has also recorded Ysaÿe's Solo Sonatas (BIS), works by Debussy, Kreisler, Paganini, among others (Delos), and Sibelius' Humoresques (Finlandia). In 2003, ECM Records released Kavakos' recording of sonatas by Enescu and Ravel, together with pianist Péter Nagy; in 2004, Mansurian's Violin Concerto was also released there with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and Christoph Poppen. In 2005, his recording of works by Stravinsky and Bach with Péter Nagy was released on ECM. Mozart's Violin Concertos with the Camerata Salzburg were released by Sony Classical in 2006, followed in 2009 by the recording of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto with the Camerata Salzburg and the piano trios Patrick Demenga and Enrico Pace, which received the ECHO Klassik 2009 award. His exclusive collaboration with Decca began in 2012 with Enrico Pace and the complete recording of the Beethoven Sonatas, to be released in January 2013. Kavakos plays the "Abergavenny" Stradivarius from 1724. 11/2012