“Chamber music is the soul of music.” This credo permeates the work of pianist Elena Bashkirova in all her roles as a soloist, ensemble musician and programmer. Born in Moscow, the daughter of the legendary teacher Dmitry Bashkirov left the Soviet Union in 1978 to settle in Paris. Artistically, she has been profoundly influenced by her collaboration with conductors such as Pierre Boulez and Sergiu Celibidache. At the heart of her work lies the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, which she founded in 1998 and of which she remains the artistic director. In addition, she launched the “Intonations” festival in Berlin in 2012. With the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival ensemble, she performs worldwide in venues such as the Boulez Saal in Berlin or during multi-day residencies at the Blaibach Konzerthaus. In addition to chamber music, she is deeply committed to the lied and regularly performs in concert with leading artists such as Anna Netrebko, Dorothea Röschmann or René Pape. Her discography includes award-winning recordings of Tchaikovsky (ICMA Award 2017), Dvořák and Mozart. Elena Bashkirova holds an honorary doctorate from the Ben-Gurion University and is president of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Foundation in Leipzig. She has lived in Berlin since 1992 with her husband Daniel Barenboim.