Leonid Gorokhov

Born 1967 in Leningrad, USSR, the British/German cellist Leonid Gorokhov began playing piano at the age of 5 and the cello at 7. He attended the Central Music School to learn with Sviatoslav Zagursky, continued at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire with Anatoli Nikitin and took part in masterclasses with Daniil Shafran. Winner of the Concertino Praga (First Prize)[1] and the Paris Chamber Music Competition (Premier Grand Prix), Leonid Gorokhov is the only cellist from Russia to be awarded the Grand Prix and the First Prize of the Geneva Concours (1986). In 1995, the European Association for Encouragement of the Arts awarded the Cultural Achievement Prize to Leonid Gorokhov for “exceptional talent and outstanding artistic accomplishment”.

Following an invitation by Yehudi Menuhin, Leonid moved to the UK in 1991 to pursue his playing and teaching career. Starting at the Yehudi Menuhin School, he subsequently joined the Royal Northern College of Music before moving to the Royal College in London, and finally, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2008 followed a move to Hannover, Germany, to hold a Professorship for cello at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien. Among his past and present students are winners of international competitions and members of orchestras in various parts of the world.

Leonid performed internationally as a soloist with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Orchester de la Suisse Romande, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Symphony Orchestra Biel, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra London, and The English Symphony Orchestra, as well as appearing frequently in recitals and chamber music festivals.

(Writing music for his instrument was for him a strictly private subject until recently, when support and interest of friends and colleagues have made a number of his pieces available to the audience.)