At the age of 13 the highly respected Russian conductor and violinist Vladimir Spivakov won first prize for his conducting talents at a major classical music competition in Moscow. He went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory mentored by the renowned Russian violinist Yuri Yankelvich whose past students have included Russia's Viktor Tretyakov, Armenia's Ruben Aharonyan and Ukranian-born Alexandre Brussilovsky.
In 1979, at the age of 35, Spivakov debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the same year established the Moscow Virtuosi where he remains the Principal Conductor and Artistic Director to this day. In 1989 he emigrated to Spain and on his return to his native Russia he was awarded the honour of People's Artist of the USSR. In 1994 Spivakov founded his charity, the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Foundation, an organisation dedicated to helping Russian orphans. Today he is regarded by classical music aficionados as one of the premier violinists of his generation and has an international reputation as one of the world's leading conductors which has resulted in Spivakov being given numerous awards and accolades. He is currently engaged as the Artistic Director and Principal conductor of the National Philharmonic of Russia.
