Born in 1949 in Russia, the viola-player Oleg Lev began his studies at the age of five at the Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory, continuing his studies with distinguished teachers at the Conservatory proper. He was a member of the USSR Cinematographic Symphony Orchestra under E. Khachaturian from 1973 and in 1980 he joined the USSR State Symphony Orchestra under Evgeny Svetlanov. In 1986 he became a key member of the world-famous Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra with Vladimir Spivakov as its Artistic Director. As a member of the orchestra, he toured extensively thoughout Russia and Europe, the United States, Australia and Japan and recorded for the RCA label.
He was also a member of the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Music Academy, with which he took part in numerous chamber music projects around the world. From 1975 to 1986 he served as a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, and in 1992 became Principal Viola of the Asturias Symphony Orchestra. Since then he has made regular appearances with that orchestra as a soloist, most notably performing Hindemith’s Trauermusik and the Bartók Viola Concerto to great critical acclaim.
During his career Oleg Lev has collaborated with such distinguished artists as Herbert von Karajan, Yehudi Menuhin, Evgeny Svetlanov, Vladimir Spivakov, Pinchas Zukerman, Yuri Bashmet, Shlomo Mintz, Evgeny Kissin and Misha Maisky among many others. He has been a Guest Principal Viola of the New European Strings Chamber Orchestra, founded by the eminent Russian violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky, with whom he played in concert venues such as the Concertgebow in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid.
Oleg Lev is a viola professor of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, and a co-founder and Artistic Adviser of the Evaristo Valle Chamber Music Festival in Gijón, Spain. He plays a viola made specially for him in 1991 by the late Russian luthier Pavel Schudtz.
