Aleksey Igudesman is a multifaceted artist known for his exceptional violinism, but also for his impressive work as a composer, conductor, actor, director, and producer. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, he was fortunate enough to be accepted into the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in England at the tender age of 12. This esteemed institution provided him with the ideal environment to hone his craft, and he later went on to study violin with the renowned Boris Kuschnir at the Vienna Conservatory.
As a composer, Aleksey's work has been published by Universal Edition and has been performed worldwide by soloists, ensembles, and orchestras, often with him as both soloist and conductor. His unique blend of music and poetry has also been showcased in his project, Violins of the World, where his own poems are recited by the iconic Sir Roger Moore.
In addition to his work as a composer, Aleksey has also made a name for himself as a film composer, often collaborating with the Academy Award-winning Hans Zimmer. He has composed, arranged, and performed on a number of notable films, including The Road to El Dorado, Spanglish, and Sherlock Holmes, which received a nomination for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards in 2010. Igudesman has also co-written the music for Jealous of the Birds with Zimmer, which premiered at the Rhode Island Film Festival in 2011 and won the Grand Prize for Best Original Score.
Aleksey's extensive filmography also includes work on Rango, Inception, Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows, Madagascar 3, The Lone Ranger, 300: Rise of an Empire, Inferno, and Boss Baby 2. Furthermore, he has written the music for numerous documentaries, such as Noseland, Wachau, Schönbrunn, Salzburg, and Maria Theresia, as well as Austria's heritage for the world in 2022.
As half of the duo Igudesman & Joo, Aleksey performs alongside the internationally acclaimed pianist Hyung-ki Joo. Their show, A Little Nightmare Music, has received widespread critical acclaim and has been viewed over 20 million times on YouTube to date. They often share the stage with renowned musicians, including Gidon Kremer, Julian Rachlin, Janine Jansen, Viktoria Mullova, Emanuel Ax, John Malkovich, and many others. In 2009, Igudesman & Joo embarked on a tour of Germany, Holland, and Belgium as part of the Night of the Proms, performing in front of half a million people. They have also developed a show featuring symphony and chamber orchestras, titled BIG Nightmare Music.
Throughout his illustrious career, Aleksey has had the privilege of playing a Santo Serafin 1717 violin, kindly loaned to him by Erste Bank.
