Son and pupil of David Oistrakh, Igor Oistrakh was born in Odessa in 1931. He won First Prize in the Budapest International Competition in 1949 and First Prize in the Wieniawski International Competition, Poznan, in 1952. His western debut was arranged by Victor Hochhauser at the Royal Albert Hall, and was followed by concert tours throughout the USA, Europe, USSR, Canada, South America, Japan and Australia.

Igor Oistrakh has performed with the world’s greatest orchestras under Klemperer, Reiner, von Karajan, Normandy, Glulini, Solti, Maazel, Ozawa, Rozhdestvensky and David Oistrakh. He has also performed together with Pablo Casals and Yehudi Menuhin.

For 27 years Igor Oistrakh played in a unique duo with his father making several recordings together. Following the death of his father in 1976, the family tradition has continued with Igor’s son Valery Oistrakh who is himself a prize-winning concert violinist.

Since 1968 Igor Oistrakh has conducted chamber and symphony orchestras as well as performing as a viola player. He has recorded for EMI, DGG, Decca, RCA, Collins, Melodia and Art and Electronics. His wife, Natalia Zertsalova, is his duo pianist and together they have been awarded Honorary Membership of the Beethoven Society in Bonn for their recording of the complete Beethoven Sonatas. They were also awarded the “Weiner Flotenuhr” by the Vienna Mozart Academy for their recording of the complete Mozart Violin Sonatas.

Awards and appointments include Fellow of the Royal College of Music, the title “People’s Artist of the USSR”, Presidency of the Russian section of the European String Teachers Association, Honorary Member of the Ysaye Foundation, President of the Cesar Franck Foundation in Belgium and Jury member of the most prestigious violin competitions such as the Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth, Wieniawski and Carl Flesch Competitions.

Since 1996 Igor Oistrakh has held the post of Professor of the Royal Conservatory in Brussels.