Ilya Konovalov, Concertmaster of the Israel Philharmonic since 1997, was born in 1977 in Novosibirsk to a musical family. He began studying the violin at the age of 7, first with Prof. Zakhar Bron and subsequently with Prof. Aleksey Gvozdev, and while still a student was a prizewinner 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, the 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 Beer Sheva and the Israel Philharmonic, under the baton of Zubin Mehta, Vladimir Spivakov, Hugh Wolf, Yoel Levi, Yaron Traub and others. Ilya Konovalov has played chamber music with renowned artists, including 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.