Now a violin virtuoso with a “hugely dense, expressive force”, Pavel Berman has gone from being an enfant prodige to winning, when he was only 17, the Silver Medal at the Paganini Competition and at 20 the First Prize and the Gold Medal at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Pavel Berman is an “uncompromising artist, a formidable and deep performer who plays with the consciousness of one who knows how to represent music in itself” (Ensemble Magazine, Germany 2010).

In the course of his career, Pavel Berman has played with many orchestras, including the Dresden Staatskapelle, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Prague Symphony, Liverpool’s Royal Philharmonic, Beijing Philharmonic, Berliner Sinfoniker. He has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues: Carnegie Hall in New York, the Théâtre des Champs Elysées and the Salle Gaveau in Paris, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Bunkakaikan in Tokyo, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussells.

He has also worked with the conductors Iliahu Inbal, Andrei Boreiko, Raimond Leppard, George Hanson and Petr Altrichter. Besides his long collaboration with his father Lazar, Pavel Berman has been an active chamber musician with artists spanning from different generations, including Andras Schiff, Bruno Canino, Nabuko Imai, Aruel Nicolè, Gustav Rivenius, Alexander Kniazev, Daniel Muller-Schott. Furthermore, he has played the double role of soloist and conductor for numerous orchestras, such as the RAI National Symphony Orchestra in Turin, the Orchestra Sinfonica Abruzzese, Mantua’s Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Parma’s Sinfonica Toscanini, the Orchestra of the Carlo Felice in Genoa, Lisbon’s Orchestra of Teatro Sao Carlo, the Moscow Symphony Orchestra, the Romanian National Radio, the Wurtembergische Philharmonie, “Moscow Virtuosi”, and the “Baltic Virtuosi”. Among the highlights of 2011 to be mentioned are performances of Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the Teatro “La Fenice” in Venice, conducted by Yutaka Sado, a recital tour of Japan and collaboration in the Rachamninoff Gala at the Stresa Festival and Parco della Musica in Rome with the pianist Alexander Romanovsky and the cellist Enrico Dindo.

Among his recordings, his cd of Prokofiev’s complete works for violin and piano (Dynamic 2010, Vardan Mamikonian, piano) is notable. It has met with great public and critical acclaim. Pavel Berman has further developed his exploration of Prokofiev’s music, recording his two concertos with the Italian Swiss Radio Orchestra conducted by Andrey Boreyko. From 2011 Mr. Berman becomes to be a principal guest conductor of “Virtuosi Italiani” Chamber Orchestra of Verona. Most important projects in 2012-13 include a new tour of Japan, a video recording of Paganini 24 Caprices in an arrangement for violin and string orchestra by G. Kuprievicius, recording of Bach Sonatas and Partitas for a “Dante – Bach” project, tour of Switzerland and Italy with an Italian Swiss Radio Orchestra with D. Rustioni The famous German specialized periodical Enesmble Magazine has thus described his interpretation: “Berman fully exploits the sound capacity of the “Maréchal Berthier” Stradivaius: he shows what great potential the instrument has. He makes it sing, cry and dance rhythmically in a striking way. His varied phrasing is not the result of the instrument itself, but of his profound understanding of Prokofiev’s style.

The rhythm is observed very clearly and fundamentally. It is a joy to listen to this recording and the tension herein created.” He has also recorded for Koch International, Audiofon, Discover, Supraphon, Phoenix Classics and Dynamic. Pavel Berman was born in Moscow, where he studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. He then went on to study with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School in New York and with Isaac Stern. He founded the Kaunas Chamber Orchestra in Lithuania in 1998, which became the Kaunas Symphony Orchestra. He also inaugurated the “David Oistrakh Festival” in Odessa in 2007. He plays the Maréchal Berthier Stradivarius (1716) owned by the Pro Canale Foundation (Milan).

website: www.pavelberman.com