Sasha Rozhdestvensky

Sasha Rozhdestvensky is considered one of the greatest contemporary Russian violinists. Yehudi Menuhin described him as “one of the most talented and refined violinists of his generation.”

He has performed on international stages with prestigious ensembles such as the Bayerische Staatsorchester, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of La Scala, the Mariinsky Orchestra, the Moscow and St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestras, the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Among the conductors with whom he has collaborated are Vladimir Ashkenazy, Andrey Boreyko, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Valery Gergiev, Theodor Guschlbauer, Vernon Handley, Vladimir Jurowski, Valery Polyansky, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Yuri Simonov, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Gerard Schwarz, and Christopher Warren-Green.

Sasha has notably recorded Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 6 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (Chandos). He premiered this work, which was written for him and Viktoria Postnikova. He subsequently recorded Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Glazunov’s with Gennady Rozhdestvensky and the State Symphony Capella of Russia (Nimbus). He also recorded the complete works for violin and piano by Tchaikovsky with Josiane Marfurt, including the world premiere of Oh, chante encore (Delos), as well as the complete chamber music for violin by Ravel with Josiane Marfurt (Praga Digitals), a recording that received a Choc de Classica award. He has also recorded the complete works for violin and piano by Shostakovich with Jeremy Menuhin for FHR (UK), world premiere recordings of sonatas by Myaskovsky, Shebalin, and Nechaev with Viktoria Postnikova, and more recently, a world premiere of John Mayer’s Second Violin Concerto with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Debashish Chaudhuri.

Sasha Rozhdestvensky has performed at numerous prestigious festivals such as the BBC Proms, Tanglewood, Schleswig-Holstein, Gstaad, Colmar, Ravinia, Florida, Lockenhaus, Montreux, and Rheingau. He has played in renowned venues including Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, the Barbican and the Festival Halls in London, the Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonie, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Salle Pleyel and Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, and La Scala in Milan.

He has shared the stage in chamber music with Marc Coppey, Gary Hoffman, Steven Isserlis, Josiane Marfurt, Jeremy Menuhin, Kun Woo Paik, Michel Portal, Viktoria Postnikova, and Michael Rudy.

His commitment to contemporary music is marked by his close ties with great composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, and Ian Venables.

He also dedicates time to performing traditional Latin American music, notably with the instrumental group Ambar, whose recordings include El Diablo Suelto (Delos) and O voo da mosca (FHR). Recently, the group premiered a violin concerto composed for Sasha by Francisco Gonzalez with the National Orchestra of Colombia.

Sasha studied at the Central Music School in Moscow, the Moscow Conservatory, the Paris Conservatory, and the Royal College of Music in London.

He is currently a professor at the Royal College of Music in London and the Geneva University of Music.