The Second Trans-Siberian
Art Festival of Vadim Repin.
Vadim Repin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet,
Russian Philharmonia Orchestra,
Dmitry Jurowski

Vadim Repin is one of the world’s best and most sought-after violinists. Born in Novosibirsk, he won the renowned Wieniawski Competition and gave his first recitals in Moscow and Leningrad aged 11. At 14, he played in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin and Helsinki, and gave his debut at Carnegie Hall a mere year later. At 17 he became the youngest ever winner of the Concours Reine Elisabeth. Since then, he continues to perform at the world’s major concert venues and international festivals. 

The list of his stage partners includes illustrious conductor’s names such as Ashkenazy, Boulez, Chailly, Chung, Dohnányi, Dutoit, Gergiev, Jansons, Levine, Mehta, Muti, Nagano, Ozawa, Temirkanov and Thielemann, as well as of chamber musician partners such as Argerich, Bartoli, Capuçon, Golan, Kissin, Knyazev, Korobeinikov, Lang Lang, Lugansky, Maisky and Matsuev.

Mr Repin recorded the great Russian violin concerti by Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky for Warner Classics. Deutsche Grammophon released the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic and Riccardo Muti, the Kreutzer Sonata with Martha Argerich, as well as the Brahms Double Concerto (with Truls Mørk) and Violin Concerto with the Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly. His DG recordings of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff trios with Mischa Maisky and Lang Lang won the Echo Prize, a sonata CD with works by Grieg, Janáček and César Franck with Nikolai Lugansky the BBC Music Award. 

In 2010 Vadim Repin received the Victoire d’Honneur and the highest French distinction, Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, for his services to music. He was named Honorary Professor of Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music in 2014 and awarded the same title by the Shanghai Conservatory in 2015. Apart from holding masterclasses in most countries where he performs, he also serves as a juror, at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in London and at the “Concours Reine Elisabeth” in Brussels, amongst others. 

A large portion of Mr Repin’s work is focussed on the Trans-Siberian Art Festival, a large cultural enterprise he founded in 2013/14. With Vadim Repin as artistic director, this festival encourages the building of local, as well as international cultural, social and geographical bridges. Besides its Novosibirsk hub, this festival is now present in most major cities and numerous regional towns in Russia. Moreover, the festival’s roster includes Japan, Korea, Israel, Belgium, France, Germany and both the U.S. states of California and New York. Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Berlin Philharmonic Hall were added for the first time in 2019. The Trans-Siberian Art Festival also commissions at least one new concerto per year. Thus, several violin concertos - Benjamin Yussupov’s “Voices of Violin”, Lera Auerbach’s “De Profundis”, Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Dialogue: You and I”, Alexander Raskatov’s “Ex Oriente Lux”, and a new verion of Arvo Pärt’s “La Sindone” – were premièred by Vadim during his festival in Novosibirsk. 

In recent seasons, the joint programme “Pas de deux for Toes and Fingers” with prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova and Vadim Repin was performed in Hong Kong, Muscat, Japan and Korea. Moreover, he played with the Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic conducted by Sascha Goetzel, at the Enescu Festival Bucharest, in Verbier - most recently with Lahav Shani conducting – and at the Montreal Festival with Kent Nagano. Further highlights include appearances with the RAI Torino Orchestra, a return to the Enescu Festival, to Vienna with Gubaidulina’s new violin concerto, to Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, as well as numerous concerts in Korea, Japan and China. 

Vadim Repin plays the magnificent Rode Stradivari violin from 1733.