All of the current members of the Borodin Quartet, like their predecessors, are graduates of the Moscow Conservatory, and steeped in the Russian string tradition. They were either taught by the same professors as former members, or pupils of those professors – in the case of the violinists, a golden line of tutelage exists that stretches back to Leopold Auer. Furthermore, the younger members can claim to have been “brought up by the Borodin Quartet”, since they all studied the quartet repertoire with the ensemble.

1st violin

Ruben Aharonian joined the Borodin Quartet in 1996, having enjoyed a highly successful career as a soloist and conductor. Born in 1947 in Riga, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Yuri Yankelevich, and after graduating continued his studies with Leonid Kogan. He went on to win prizes at several international competitions, including the Enescu Competition in Bucharest, the Montreal Competition and the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Mr Aharonian has toured as a soloist extensively throughout Europe, North and South America. In 1983 he became Principal Conductor and Music Director of the State Chamber Orchestra of Armenia, with which he has also appeared as soloist. He has a wide-ranging discography as a violinist, and has directed works by Mozart on a recording with the State Chamber Orchestra of Armenia.

2nd violin

Andrei Abramenkov was born in Moscow in 1935, into a highly musical environment. His father played the viola in the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, his mother was a trained pianist and, as a boy treble, Andrei sang in the Bolshoi Theatre Choir. In 1942 he entered the Central Music School, studying the violin with Prof. Yankelevich. He went to the Moscow Conservatory to study with Boris Sibor and Konstantin Mostras. In 1956, he was a prize-winner at the All-Soviet Competition. Whilst still a student at the Conservatory, he was invited to join the Moscow Chamber Orchestra under the leadership of Rudolf Barshai (formerly a member of the Borodin Quartet), playing with the ensemble for sixteen years. Andrei Abramenkov has been a member of the Borodin Quartet since 1974.

viola

Born in Moscow in 1969, Igor Naidin began his musical studies on both Violin and Viola with Prof. M. Glezarova at the Moscow Conservatory, aged seven, and continued under the tutelage of Yuri Bashmet until his graduation in 1994. A year later he won the Second International Yuri Bashmet Viola Competition in Moscow and was awarded a special prize for his ensemble playing. Igor Naidin was a founding member of the Russo Quartet (founded in 1985), which won prizes in a number of competitions including the London International String Quartet Competition and Concertino Prague. As a member of the Russo Quartet studying at the Conservatory, Igor Naidin received coaching from members of the Borodin Quartet over a number of years and is deeply proud to be part of the Russian tradition embodied by them. He joined the Borodin Quartet in 1996.

cello

Vladimir Balshin was born in 1973 in Moscow. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory he continued his postgraduate studies there in the class of Prof. Natalia Shakhovskaya. As a member of the Russo Quartet he received tuition from Mikhail Kopelman and Valentin Berlinsky, both long-standing members of the Borodin Quartet. He became a laureate of international competitions in Italy (Caltanissetta, 1990, 1st Prize) and the UK (London String Quartet Competition, 1991, 3rd Prize). In 1994 was awarded a special prize by Mstislav Rostropovich at the International Cello Competition in Paris. He is a diploma holder of the XI Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1998) and laureate of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition (Croatia, 2000). Between 1993 and 1998 he was a member of Moscow Soloists, the chamber orchestra led by Yuri Bashmet. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Brahms Trio, and he joined the Borodin Quartet in 2007.