Ilya Konovalov, Concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra since 1997, was born in 1977 in Novosibirsk to a muscial family. He began studying the violin at the age of 7 first with Prof. Zakhar Bron and then with Prof. Aleksey Gvozdev and while still a student was a prize-winner in the All-Russian Competition and the Wieniawski International Competition. Later he studied with Prof. Dora Schwarzberg at the Vienna Academy of Music.
He has appeared as soloist with many orchestras throughout Europe and the Far East, among them the Moscow Virtuosi, Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra, the St. Petersburg State Capella Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow State Symphony, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic, the Slovak Philharmonic, the American-Russian Symphony, the Israel Sinfonietta Be'er-Sheba and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Vladimir Spivakov, Hugh Wolf, Yoel Levi, Yaron Traub and others.
Ilya Konovalov has played chamber music with renowned artists such as Lars Vogt, Yuri Bashmet, Yuri Gandelsman, Dora Schwarzberg, Matt Haimovitz and Steven Isserlis. His festival appearances include Young Artists at Concert in Davos, Schubertiaden and the Dreiklang festivals in Germany and the Haifa Music Festival. He has played as guest concertmaster with the London Symphony under Pierre Boulez, Orchestre National de Lyon under David Robertson and the Kirov Orchestra under Valery Gergiev.