Mikhail Bezverkhny

Mikhail Lvovich Bezverkhny (Михаил Львович Безверхний; born 27 July 1947 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and later Russian violinist, violist and composer.

Life and career
Born in Saint Petersburg in 1947, Bezverkhny commenced his violin studies at the age of 5 at the Central Music School of the Conservatory of Saint Petersburg. He was a student of Liubov Segal (student of Leopold Auer) and Jacob Riabinkov. In 1965 he started his studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Yuri Yankelevich - one of the most prominent violin professors of the 20th century. He also studied with Maya Gleyzarova, Abram Shtern and Nahum Latinsky. He is laureate of several international competitions:


 * 1967: 2nd prize Wieniawski Competition
 * 1969: 2nd prize chamber music competition in Munich
 * 1972: 2nd prize violin competition in Montreal
 * 1972: 1st prize chamber music competition in Belgrade
 * 1974: 1st prize chamber music competition in Budapest
 * 1976: 1st prize Queen Elisabeth Competition Brussels

In 1978 he was barred from leaving the USSR. In February 1990 he settled in Belgium. Since October 1992, Bezverkhny has been a member of the Shostakovich Trio, and his recordings for Melodya and Deutsche Grammophon now number more than forty. During all these years he has been very intensely active as a violinist, a violist, a composer, a director and an actor. He also worked several times with Latvian-American conductor Imant Kotsinsh (now Imant Airea). They recorded pieces by several composers which includes Spohr and Mendelssohn. Currently he is teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent. His students include amongst others Yoris Jarzynski and Dmitri Berlinsky.

As a composer, he wrote a virtuoso Suite Gambrinus for violin and piano.