Winner of the 1998 International Violin Competition “Premio Paganini," Ilya Gringolts was also awarded two special prizes for the youngest ever competitor to be placed in the final and the best interpreter of Paganini’s Caprices.

Recent notable highlights include the Chicago Symphony/Barenboim, UBS Verbier Orchestra/Masur and Rostropovich,  Israel Philharmonic/Mehta, the St Petersburg Philharmonic/Temirkanov.  Ilya's present and forthcoming solo engagements include the Orchestre de Venezuela and Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Abbado, Halle Orchestra/Erbele, BBC Scottish Symphony/Volkov, NDR Hannover/Petrenko, Haydn & Handel Society/Llewellyn, National Symphony Orchestra, Washington at Wolf Trap /Grams, Bournemouth Symphony/Karabits, Scottish Chamber Orchestra/Walker.

His recital highlights include appearances at the Verbier and Lucerne Festivals, the Beethoven Bonn Festival, the Louvre and the Colmar Festival,  together with annual invitations from the Milan Serate Musicali. He will present the complete cycle of Beethoven Violin Sonatas at the Verbier Festival this year. In June 2008, Ilya will give the premiere by Sir Peter Maxwell Davis of his new Violin Sonata at St. Magnus Festival.  He has also been invited to the 2008 Dvorak’s Prague International Music Festival and the 2009 Enescu Festival.

Ilya continues to be active in the recording studios and in addition to his three previous Deutsche Grammophon discs, this year he has recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto with Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela/Abbado for DG. In February 2008, his solo violin disc of Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst which includes the six Etudes and Otello Fantasy was released on Hyperion. Most recently, he won a Gramophone Award for his Taneyev Chamber Music CD for DG.

Ilya plays a Ruggeri violin loaned to him by Otto Karl Schenk, Bern/Switzerland

Mr. Gringolts performs in “Romantic Brahms” on March 20 and 22 at Symphony Hall. He makes his Handel and Haydn Society debut in these performances.