Violin
One of the legends of the Russian violin school, Viktor Pikayzen was born in Kiev, USSR and gave his full debut at the age of 9. Having heard the young virtuoso during the war, David Oistrakh brought him to Moscow where Pikayzen became the only student the great master taught all the way from music to school to the post-graduate degree at Moscow Conservatory. During his studies Pikayzen was a top prize winner at the Tchaikovsky, Long-Thibaud, Queen Elizabeth and Kubelik International Violin Competitions, before winning the First Prize at the “Premio Paganini” Competition in Genoa. His worldwide performing career spans five continents and his repertoire not only encompasses the overwhelming majority of the violin literature but also includes works dedicated to him by composers such as Aram Khachaturian and Boris Tchaikovsky. He is an esteemed interpreter of Ysaye, Bach and Paganini, having played the latter’s “24 Caprices” in concert 78 times in his life. His discography includes the complete sonatas of Beethoven, Brahms and Bach, with his daughter, Tatyana Pikayzen, as well as most of the standard violin repertoire.
He is currently a Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, as well as at the Central Music School and Schnittke Institute in Russia, in addition to being a guest Professor at Conservatories in Turkey, Taiwan and Japan. He is a frequent jury member at some of the world’s most prestigious international violin competitions. Prof. Pikayzen is a People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, in addition to holding honorary doctorates from numerous universities worldwide.