“Through the years, I have learned that music is life and life is music,” Leonidas Kavakos said in a 2023 interview with The Korean Herald. “The role of music is not just to entertain people; [it’s] to really help people understand what life is.”
Music has been part of Kavakos’s life from the very beginning. The Athens-born violinist hails from a family of musicians, and he began studying his instrument with his father at the age of five. After attending Athens’s Hellenic Conservatory, he won a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation that allowed him to attend Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where he studied with the legendary teacher Josef Gingold (who himself studied with the legendary violinist Eugène Ysaÿe). “The most important element [that] I received from [Gingold] was his absolute passion and love for the violin and for the music,” Kavakos said in an interview with Violinist.com.
Kavakos began making a name for himself internationally around the time he was at Indiana, when, in his late teens and early 20s, he won several major competitions, including the Sibelius, Naumburg, and Paganini competitions, as well as second prize in the Indianapolis competition. From there, he went on to build a top-tier career that’s included appearances with the world’s greatest ensembles. This season alone he performs with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, and Czech Philharmonic, among many others, and he serves as artist-in-residence with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Kavakos appears in recital from London to Zagreb, and, with the ApollΩn Ensemble (which he founded in 2022), he appears at Wigmore Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, and the Verbier, Santander, and Edinburgh festivals. Kavkaos is also an acclaimed conductor, and in the fall he begins a three-year position as principal guest conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra.
As a recording artist, Kavakos is known for his gorgeous trio recordings with pianist Emanuel Ax and cellist Yo-Yo Ma as well as for making (when he was in his early 20s) the first-ever recording of the original version of the Sibelius Violin Concerto—a recording that won Gramophone’s Concerto of the Year Award. Kavakos was also named ECHO Klassik’s Instrumentalist of the Year for his recording of the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with his longtime collaborator and partner for the Festival’s upcoming Gala Recital on July 16: pianist Enrico Pace.
Even though Kavakos has a major career as an orchestral soloist and conductor, he’s one of the most in-demand chamber musicians as well. “I really like to do recitals, and I love playing chamber music,” he said in a 2023 interview with Bachtrack. “With a recital, you get to play three or four big pieces, and for two hours you develop, with the audience, an atmosphere that is really unique. I love that. And also, the repertoire is amazing.”