The Belgian National Orchestra has announced the death of its long-time concertmaster Alexei Mochkov, who passed away this week at the age of 57. Tomorrow’s concert will be dedicated to his memory.
Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in 1968, Mochkov came from a musical family and studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Igor Bezrodny, obtaining diplomas in violin performance, chamber music, and pedagogy. Early in his career, he served as concertmaster of the Conservatory Orchestra and toured across the Soviet Union, Europe, and the United States.
In 1992, he joined Yuri Bashmet’s ensemble The Soloists of Moscow, performing throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Japan. As a chamber musician, he collaborated with figures such as Gidon Kremer, Mstislav Rostropovich, Sviatoslav Richter, Natalia Gutman, Viktor Tretyakov, and Michel Portal, and took part in leading international festivals including Evian, Tours, Chichester, and Speyer.
A semi-finalist at the Louis Spohr International Violin Competition in Freiburg (1997), Mochkov was invited as soloist by numerous orchestras, performing a wide range of violin concertos “in the pure Russian tradition.”
He joined the National Orchestra of Belgium (now Belgian National Orchestra) in 1998, shaping its sound for over 25 years. Alongside his orchestral work, he maintained an active career as recitalist and chamber musician, with a repertoire extending from baroque to contemporary music.
From 2013 to 2018, Mochkov taught violin at the Conservatoire de musique à Cambrai in France. One of his students, Sylvia Huang, later became a finalist in the 2019 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Since 2021, he had been principal violin professor at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp.
In its statement, the orchestra remembered him as “more than a colleague; part of our orchestra family,” adding that “his proud presence will continue to resonate among us.”
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