Mikhail Lvovich Bezverkhny (Russian: Михаил Львович Безверхний; born 27 July 1947 in Leningrad) is a Soviet and later Russian violinist, violist and composer.
Born in Saint Petersburg in 1947, Bezverkhny commenced his violin studies at the age of 5 at the Central Music School of the Conservatory of Saint Petersburg. He was a student of Liubov Segal (student of Leopold Auer) and Jacob Riabinkov. In 1965 he started his studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Yuri Yankelevich - one of the most prominent violin professors of the 20th century. He also studied with Maya Gleyzarova, Abram Shtern and Nahum Latinsky. He is laureate of several international competitions:
In 1978 he was barred from leaving the USSR. In February 1990 he settled in Belgium. Since October 1992, Bezverkhny has been a member of the Shostakovich Trio, and his recordings for Melodya and Deutsche Grammophon now number more than forty.[2] During all these years he has been very intensely active as a violinist, a violist, a composer, a director and an actor. He also worked several times with Latvian-American conductor Imant Kotsinsh (now Imant Airea). They recorded pieces by several composers which includes Spohr and Mendelssohn. Currently he is teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Ghent.[3] His students include amongst others Yoris Jarzynski and Dmitri Berlinsky.[4]
As a composer, he wrote a virtuoso Suite Gambrinus for violin and piano.