Grammy Award Winner Maxim Vengerov to Tour Australia

Universally hailed as one of the world's finest musicians, and often referred to as the greatest living string player in the world today, Grammy award winner Maxim Vengerov will tour Australia to celebrate his 50th Birthday in August 2024.

Accompanied by one of Europe's most iconic pianists Polina Osetinskaya, the master violinist will appear at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC) on 5 August, Arts Centre Melbourne's Hamer Hall on 7 August and Sydney Opera House's Concert Hall on 10 August 2024. 

Tickets to Brisbane and Sydney recitals go on sale today via Sydney Opera House and QPAC, with tickets to Vengerov's Hamer Hall recital going on sale on Tuesday 27 February via Arts Centre Melbourne.

Vengerov's most recent recitals include sold out concerts at New York's Carnegie Hall and London's Royal Albert Hall. His last tour of Australia in 2015 was a sold out triumph, so his return in recital is set to be eagerly anticipated by music lovers across the country.

The superstar string player's 50th birthday program also celebrates 42 years of public appearances with a program that will include demanding and exciting works by Ravel, Franck and Prokofiev as well as virtuosic encores.

Vengerov and Osetinskaya have performed together extensively, including to rapturous applause at Carnegie Hall. In the season 2023/2024 Polina Osetinskaya makes a number of her solo debuts at the Berlin Philharmonic, in London and in Laeiszhalle in Bach's concerts without a conductor.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polina has repeatedly expressed her pacifist position. In this regard, her concerts in Russia were cancelled by the government. She has since toured the world extensively including to both North and South America. 

Universally hailed as one of the world's finest musicians, and often referred to as the greatest living string player in the world today, Grammy award winner Maxim Vengerov also enjoys international acclaim as a conductor and is one of the most in-demand soloists.

Born in 1974, he began his career as a solo violinist at the age of five, won the Wieniawski and Carl Flesch international competitions at ages 10 and 15 respectively, studied with Galina Tourchaninova and Zakhar Bron, made his first recording at the age of 10, and went on to record extensively for high-profile labels including Melodia, Teldec and EMI, earning among others, Grammy and Gramophone artist of the year awards.

In 2007 he followed in the footsteps of his mentor, the late Mstislav Rostropovich, and turned his attention to conducting and in 2010 was appointed the first chief conductor of the Gstaad Festival Orchestra. June 2014 saw Mr Vengerov graduate with a Diploma of Excellence from the Moscow Institute of Ippolitov-Ivanov with professor Yuri Simonov and he has since finished a further 2-year program of opera conducting.

Highlights of recent seasons saw Mr Vengerov opening the season of the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala with Maestro Chailly, a Residence with Monte Carlo Philharmonic and the Philharmonie in Paris as well as a world wide recital tours. Highlights of the 22/23 season saw him in an extensive US and Canadian recital tour including Berkeley, Kansas City, New York and Toronto, and an 11 concerts tour in the UK.

Other orchestral performances as a soloist include Montreal, Vienna, London, Paris and Taiwan and chamber music concerts with Evgeny Kissin and Stephen Isserliss at Carnegie Hall, and in Switzerland with Simon Trpcesky and Stephen Isserliss. He also joined the Aspen and Bravo Vale Festival in the States this summer in Recital, Masterclasses and Concerto performances with Fabio Luisi and the Dallas SO and celebrated 40 years on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in a big gala concert in April 2023.

In 2023/24 he will open the Shanghai International Festival with Christoph Eschenbach, will embark on another world wine Recital tour including America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia and will perform orchestra concerts amongst others in Vienna, Paris and Milan.

In 2020 Maxim Vengerov became Classic FM's first solo Artist in Residence and released a new recording of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with conductor Myung-Whun Chung and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, coupled with works by Saint-Säens and Ravel as well as a live recital from Carnegie Hall.

As one of Mr Vengerov's greatest passions is the teaching and encouraging of young talent, he has held various teaching positions around the world. He currently holds the Stephan and Viktoria Schmidheiny Stiftungsprofessor at the Mozarteum University Salzburg and since September 2016 he is also the Polonsky Visiting Professor of Violin at the Royal College of Music in London.

In 2018 Maxim Vengerov became the Goodwill Ambassador of the Musica Mundi School – a unique institution, which supports young talents. With the vision of democratising the access of music learning, he launched his own online platform in January 2021: www.maximvengerov.com and created an impact across 170 countries and over 190 million reach.

His first year programs include partnerships with musical institutions from around the world, the Lottery Ticket program, guest artist series inaugurated with Brett Yang from TwoSet Violin, as well as his new global community group who's initiatives include the world leading Mentoring program, rural musical communities initiative and the Musical Pen Pals program for children.

Mr Vengerov has been profiled in a series of documentaries, including Playing by Heart, which was recorded by Channel Four Television and screened at the Cannes Television Festival in 1999, and Living the Dream, which was released worldwide and received the Gramophone Award for Best Documentary in 2008.

Mr Vengerov has received prestigious fellowships and honours from a number of institutions. In 2012 he was awarded an Honorary Visiting Fellowship at Trinity College Oxford and in 2019 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Music London and in 2019 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Music London and the Order of Cultural Merit from the Palace Monte Carlo.

Mr Vengerov has also received numerous awards including Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (with Orchestra) (2003), two Gramophone awards (1994, 1995), a Classical Brit Award (2004), five Edison Classical Music Awards (1995, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004), two ECHO awards (1997, 2003) and a World Economic Forum Crystal award (2007) – honouring artists who have used their art to improve the state of the world.
He plays the ex-Kreutzer Stradivari (1727).

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