Eskender Bekmambetov, is principal violin of the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra. Eskender began his musical studies at age 6 on the piano, in the Uzbek Republic of then Soviet Union (now -- Uzbekistan), and continued with his studies, on the violin, in Moscow. His favorite composers range from Bach to Shostakovich, and his non-classical musical interest are jazz and ethnic music.

Among his favorite living musicians are Perlman and Domingo; Kreisler, Casals, Caruso, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong are among his most admired from the past generations.
Mr. Eskender writes music, and one of his compositions is often performed by the orchestra as an encore, always with great success.