Mikhail Pochekin is considered one of the outstanding violinists of his generation. His commanding artistic charisma has helped him win the admiration of audiences, as well as the recognition of international critics and many renowned orchestras. In recent years, he has performed with ensembles such as the Mariinsky Theater Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Württemberg Philharmonic Reutlingen, Neubrandenburg Philharmonic, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia "Evgeny Svetlanov," Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Tatarstan National Symphony Orchestra, and the Ural Philharmonic. Mikhail performs in various countries worldwide, gracing prestigious festivals and concert halls such as the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, Fundación Juan March in Madrid, Schloss Elmau, Kronberg Academy Festival, Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, Schubertiada de Vilabertran Festival, Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, Munich Gasteig, Concordia International Festival of Contemporary Music (named after Sofia Gubaidulina), and the "Tchaikovsky Homeland" Festival.
Mikhail has collaborated with conductors such as Heinz Holliger, Yuri Simonov, Vasily Sinaisky, Aleksandr Sladkovsky, Ilmar Lapinsch, Valery Poliansky, Valentin Uryupin, Bojan Sudjic, Sebastian Tewinkel, Mikhail Agrest, Kevin Griffiths, Dimitris Botinis, Stanislav Kochanovsky, Mei-Ann Chen, Dmitry Matvienko, Gavriel Heine, and Maximilian Hornung.
A significant part of Mikhail’s artistic activity is dedicated to chamber music, where he performs with artists like Wen-Sinn Yang, Kian Soltani, Benedict Klöckner, Alexander Ramm, Petrit Çeku, Gabriel Schwabe, Rainer Schmidt, Ana Chumachenco, Rudens Turku, Klara Flieder, Kiveli Doerken, Peter Laul, Yuri Favorin, and Arseny Tarasevich-Nikolaev. A particularly important role in his life is his collaboration with his brother, violinist and violist Ivan Pochekin. In 2018, they released their first joint album, *The Unity of Opposites*, under the "Melodiya" label, featuring works for two violins as well as violin and viola.
In 2019, he recorded the *Six Sonatas and Partitas BWV 1001–1006* for solo violin by J.S. Bach under the Munich label “Solo Musica.” The CD received high praise from the international press, including reviews by Harald Eggebrecht and Reinhard Brembeck in the *Süddeutsche Zeitung* and Julian Haylock in the English magazine *The Strad*.
Mikhail Pochekin was born into a family of musicians: his father is a renowned violin maker, his mother a violin teacher, and his brother a violinist and violist. The sound of violins surrounded Mikhail from an early age.
He received his first violin lessons at the age of five from Galina Turchaninova, later studying with Ana Chumachenco, Viktor Tretiakov, and Rainer Schmidt at music academies in Cologne, Munich, and Basel, the "Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía" in Madrid, and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
Masterclasses and lessons with Christian Tetzlaff also had a profound artistic influence on him.
From an early age, Mikhail’s talent was recognized through prestigious international competitions, including the Rodolfo Lipizer, Jascha Heifetz, Pablo de Sarasate, and Ruggiero Ricci violin competitions.
In 2008, he was awarded the Pablo Sarasate National Prize in Spain. As part of this honor, he was invited by the Madrid Conservatory to perform on the "Ex Boissier" violin by Antonio Stradivari, once owned by the famous Spanish violinist Sarasate.
Mikhail is also dedicated to teaching. He conducts masterclasses worldwide and has been a professor of violin at the "Forum Musikae" Conservatory in Madrid since 2022.