Lev Polyakin

Assistant Concertmaster
Dr. Jeanette Grasselli Brown and
Dr. Glenn R. Brown Endowed Chair
The Cleveland Orchestra

Lev Polyakin joined the first violin section of The Cleveland Orchestra in 1982 and was appointed an assistant concertmaster in 1999. In addition, he serves as concertmaster of the American Academy of Conducting Orchestra at the Aspen Music Festival. Born in Tashkent, Mr. Polyakin studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Yuri Yankelevich and Leonid Kogan. At age 21, he was appointed co-concertmaster of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra. In that position, he was regularly featured as a soloist, with many of his performances recorded by Melodiya. Mr. Polyakin immigrated to the United States in 1980. In 1984, he was a prizewinner at the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition in London; among his honors was the Albert Frost Prize for best performance of a Beethoven sonata. Two months later, at the Romano Romanini International Violin Competition in Brescia, Italy, he was awarded the gold medal. In addition to his solo performances with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, he has appeared as a soloist with the London Mozart Players, London’s Royal Philharmonic, and The Cleveland Orchestra. Mr. Polyakin has sustained an abiding love of jazz throughout his life. In Cleveland, he plays with a jazz group called Russian Blue. His first jazz CD was titled Russian Blue, followed by The Other Side of the Road and Christmas Kaleidoscope.