Of Russian origin, Jean-Jacques Kantorow was born in 1945 in Cannes, where he began his violin lessons at the Conservatoire, entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen and winning the first violin prize there the following year. Between 1962 and 1968 he won major prizes, including first prizes at the London Carl Flesch, the Genoa Paganini and the Geneva International Competitions, among others. He has appeared as a conductor and a soloist in all leading international centres, in Europe and in the United States, Canada, India, the Far East and Africa, winning critical acclaim. He has collaborated with musicians including Sir Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim, Paul Tortelier, Kristian Zimerman, János Starker, Maria–João Pires, Gidon Kremer, Edith Wiens, and Renée Fleming. His musical interests have led him towards orchestral and operatic repertoire.
Ensembles with which he has served as conductor include the Orchestre de l’Auvergne, the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestrale de Paris and the Tapiola Sinfonietta. He has made guest appearances with ensembles including the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre de Lyon, the Hallé Orchestra and the Bamberg Symphony. He has made more than 130 recordings with major record labels, winning, among other awards, the Grand Prix du Disque and the Grand Prix de l’Académie Franz Liszt. He teaches at the Conservatoires of Paris and Rotterdam and is, with Ton Koopman, Permanent Guest Conductor of the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra.
