As the Leader of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and a frequent guest Leader of orchestras such as the London Symphony, London’s Royal Philharmonic, and St. Martin in the Fields, Mr. Gruppman has collaborated with and was influenced by some of the most esteemed conductors of his generation including Solti, Gergiev, Rostropovich, Colin Davis, Rattle, Haitink and Yannick Nézet Séguin.

Mr. Gruppman conducts orchestras on four continents. He made his debut with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2006/07 season, conducting a special Easter performance of The Last Seven Words by Haydn and Gubaidulina in the Rotterdam Cathedral. This program was repeated during the Easter Festival in Moscow where Mr. Gruppman shared the podium with Maestro Gergiev. Most recently Mr. Gruppman conducted the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra in two critically acclaimed Mendelssohn programs and an all-Mozart program at De Doelen Great Hall in Rotterdam where in addition to conducting the RPHO, Mr. Gruppman gave the Netherlands premiere of Mozart’s recently reconstructed Concerto for Violin and in Piano (Op. 315F) with pianist Ronald Brautigam. In 2015/16 Mr. Gruppman combined performing chamber music with the great Emanuel Ax in the first half of the concert and conducting Beethoven Symphony No. 1 in the second. This formula proved to be extremely successful.

Igor Gruppman made his conducting debut with the Mariinsky Orchestra during the 2008 Easter Festival in St. Petersburg replacing at the last moment ailing Valery Gergiev and has appeared regularly with the orchestra ever since. In January of 2010, Mr. Gruppman was honored as the Artist-of-the-Month by the Mariinsky Theater.

In the United States in addition to guest appearances, Mr. Gruppman holds the post of Principal Conductor of the Orchestra at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. These concerts are now regularly broadcast on cable television in the U.S. and abroad. In recent seasons some of the world’s great artists have appeared with this orchestra, including Renee Fleming, Bryn Terfel and Ida Haendel.

In Asia Igor Gruppman has appeared numerous times as conductor and soloist with the Seoul Philharmonic.

As soloist, Mr. Gruppman is critically acclaimed for his “rich and beautiful tone, elegant phrasing, drive, passion and virtuosity.” (Strad Magazine) He continues the proud tradition of his teachers, Leonid Kogan and Jascha Heifetz. Mr. Gruppman received glowing reviews for his performances of the Double Concerto by Brahms under the baton of Valery Gergiev and the Second Violin Concerto by Prokofiev under the baton of Yannick Nézet Séguin, both with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mr. Gruppman’s violin solo recordings have met with enthusiastic reception by the international press: Berlioz’ Reverie and Caprice (Naxos); Respighi’s Poema Autunnale (Koch); Miklos Rosza’s Sinfonia Concertante and the Violin Concerto(Koch), which marks the first release of the concerto since the recording by Heifetz for whom this piece was written. Arnold’s Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra had won it’s producer Michael Fine a Grammy Award. Most recently the long-awaited reconstructed original string version of the Brahms’ F Minor Quintet recorded with the members of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was released on the Biddulph label.

Mr. Gruppman is a passionate educator.

2021 marks the launch of the First Chair Academy, an innovative series of International orchestral workshops specifically designed to select and train future Concertmasters and orchestral leaders.

Mr. Gruppman is a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory where he studied with Leonid Kogan and Mstislav Rostropovich, followed by studies with Jascha Heifetz in Los Angeles, and now is on the faculty of the Rotterdam Conservatory. Igor and Vesna Gruppman co-founded the Gruppman International Violin Institute in 2002 to select, train and develop the careers of exceptionally gifted violinists around the world, using the latest videoconferencing technology.

Mr. Gruppman plays the 1731 “Julles Garcin” Stradivarius violin generously provided by the Erasmus Foundation.