Born: 1967 (Athens, Greece)

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Leonidas Kavakos, winner of the 1988 Naumburg Violin Award, is recognised across the world as a violinist and artist of rare quality, acclaimed for his matchless technique, his captivating artistry and his superb musicianship as well as for the integrity of his playing. He works with the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors and plays as recitalist in the world’s premier recital halls and festivals.

Mr. Kavakos has developed close relationships with major orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He also works closely with the Staatskapelle Dresden, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala.

In recent years, Mr. Kavakos has built a strong profile as conductor and has conducted the New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Houston and Vienna symphonies, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Gurzenich Orchestra Cologne, Orchestre philaharmonique de Radio France, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Maggio Musicale Fiorentiono, Filarmonica Teatro La Fenice, and Danish National Symphony Orchestra.  Most recently, he had great success conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra this season, his US engagements include performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and San Francisco Symphony, and a series of recitals with his regular partners, pianist Emmanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Mr. Kavakos also performs throughout Europe with ensembles that include the Vienna Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskpelle Berln, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, and Gothenburg Symphony; play-conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall and the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France; and conducts the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

He is an exclusive recording artist with Sony Classical. In 2022, Mr. Kavakos released Beethoven for Three: Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 arranged for trio, with Mr. Ax and Mr. Ma. The second album from this series included Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" and was released in November 2022, with further recordings planned for the 2023-2024 season.

The three important mentors in his life have been Stelios Kafantaris, Josef Gingold, and Ferenc Rados, with whom he still works. By the age of 21, Leonidas Kavakos had already won three major competitions: the Sibelius Competition in 1985, and the Paganini and Naumburg competitions in 1988. This success led to him recording the original Sibelius Violin Concerto (1903/4), the first recording of this work in history, and which won Gramophone Concerto of the Year Award in 1991.

Born and brought up in a musical family in Athens, Kavakos curates an annual violin and chamber-music masterclass in Athens, which attracts violinists and ensembles from all over the world and reflects his deep commitment to the handing on of musical knowledge and traditions. Part of this tradition is the art of violin and bow-making, which Kavakos regards as a great mystery and to this day, an undisclosed secret. He plays the ‘Willemotte’ Stradivarius violin of 1734 and owns modern violins made by F. Leonhard, S.P. Greiner, E. Haahti and D. Bagué.