Leonidas Kavakos

Leonidas Kavakos has reached widespread prominence as both a violinist and conductor. He is also an enthusiastic chamber music player. Kavakos was born in Athens on October 30, 1967. His household was musical, and he took up the violin at five. After showing talent, he was enrolled at the Hellenic Conservatory, studying with Stelios Kafantaris. Kavakos won an Onassis Foundation scholarship, using the proceeds to travel to Indiana University in the U.S. for classes with Josef Gingold. He also regards pianist Ferenc Rados as a mentor and continues to study with him on occasion. Kavakos made his debut in Athens in 1984 and scored a breakthrough with a win at the International Sibelius Competition the following year. Several other major prizes followed, and Kavakos launched an international touring career. He gained wide notice for his 1990 recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, which paired the world premiere of the concerto's original 1904 version with the 1905 revision familiar today; the album won Gramophone magazine's Concerto of the Year Award. In 1996, Kavakos made his U.S. debut; he has since toured in the U.S. almost annually. He has also toured widely in Japan, often with the English Chamber Orchestra. Developing an interest in conducting, Kavakos was named the principal guest artist with the Camerata Salzburg in 2001, often performing with the group as soloist and conductor. He succeeded Roger Norrington there as artistic director in 2007 but resigned in 2009 after experiencing frustration with management changes at the orchestra. He has continued to conduct; in 2019, he led the Verbier Festival Orchestra in a performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, K. 364, with violist Antoine Tamestit, playing the violin part himself. Kavakos often plays chamber music, and he established his own chamber music festival in Athens, with a master class component. He has also toured and recorded with pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma, often performing Beethoven's trios. Kavakos has recorded for BIS, Deutsche Grammophon, and most recently Sony Classical, among other labels; his 2022 recording Beethoven for Three, featuring trio versions of Beethoven symphonies, featured Ax and Ma. Many of the concerts he had planned for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 2020 were canceled due to pandemic restrictions, but he performed major Beethoven concerts for piano trio with Ax and Ma in 2022. ~ James Manheim, Rovi