Yuri Basmet

Born in Rostov-on-Don in 1953, Bashmet grew up in Lvov in the Ukraine, where - like so many others - he took up the violin at the behest of his mother, although he actually preferred the guitar! In the 60s it was a new sound that was energising the youth of the east just as it was in the west, and Bashmet remains enthusiastic about the Beatles and, more at a distance, Jimmy Hendrix.
Bashmet went on to win a young musicians' competition in the Ukraine on the violin. The change to viola came soon after, a purely pragmatic decision, as suggested by a friend: "You would make a talented viola player - you would need much less time to practise, because if you continue with your violin you will need five, six, seven hours of practice a day; with the viola you will need much less time, and then you will have more time for your guitar!"
Thus - even though he was one of the top three violinists at the time in the school - Bashmet broke against a tradition at music college, which had always regarded viola as second best (a view Bashmet would meet, and defeat, across his early career). And yet, he was still more interested in the guitar!
Bashmet moved to the Moscow Conservatoire in 1971, where he studied first with Vadim Borisovsky, violist of the Beethoven Quartet and later, Feodor Druzhinin.  It was only then that the idea of becoming a violist, as opposed to a guitarist, began to take firm shape. For the record, Bashmet last took up the guitar - rather "primitively" he remembers - at a broadcast concert a few years back where he also accompanied a jazz singer on the piano and, in the second half, conducted Mozart's Requiem!
Knuckling down to practise, Bashmet's studies inevitably led to competitions. The first major international competition was in Budapest in 1975, at which he (bizarrely) was only awarded second prize. That spurred him on to practise harder, and in 1976 all the effort paid off with his taking first prize at the Munich International Viola Competition, at which in the final concert he played Belá Bartók's Viola Concerto, conducted by Rafael Kubelik.
Returning home victorious, you might have thought all of Moscow's musical doors would have been flung open, but Bashmet found continuing resistance to the viola as a solo instrument, despite his efforts after Budapest to arrange as many concerts as possible. He comments, ironically:
It is worth pointing out that in these 'western' venues, he was the first to play a solo viola recital.
As the world's leading viola player (technically 'violist'), Yuri Bashmet has, over the last 25 years, performed as a soloist with all the major orchestras.  He has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Montreal Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras. In the UK he has performed with all the major London orchestras and made several appearances at the BBC Proms.
Whilst he is a frequent performer throught Europe - Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Berlin, Milan, Brussels and Madrid - he also travels frequently to Japan, America and Australia. Recent visits to the Far East included appearances as both soloist and conductor with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra.
Bashmet has a particular collaboration with Anne-Sophie Mutter. He has appeared with Mutter in her complete Mozart Violin Concerto project, joining her for the sublime Sinfonia concertante in E flat K364 with such orchestras as the London Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic and Camerata Salzburg. He praises her ability to create so many colours in her playing and together they have performed the work throughout Europe. Their recording for this work has been released on CD by Deutsche Grammophon, with a DVD in the pipeline. Other starry collaborators include the likes of Igor Oistrakh, Isaac Stern and Gidon Kremer (at the recent Mozart celebrations in Salzburg).Since his appointment as Chief Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of New Russia in 2002, Bashmet has systematically expanded his symphonic repertoire, as well as his commitments as guest conductor with symphony orchestras in Europe, Japan and the Far East and North America.
His conducting activities include appearances with orchestras including Tokyo Philharmonic, Kansai Philharmonic, Auckland Symphony Orchestra, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Tapiola Sinfonietta, UBS Festival Chamber Orcehstra, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, Orchestra Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Dresden Philharmonic, Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi Milan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

www.yuribashmet.com