Elena Bashkirova Biography

Elena Dmitrievna Bashkirova (Russian; born 1958) is a Russian-born pianist and musical director.

She was born in Moscow, the daughter of pianist and teacher Dimitri Bashkirov. She studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

She is the founder of the Metropolis Ensemble in Berlin, Germany and Jerusalem International Festival of Chamber Music (also JIFCM's artistic director) in 1998.

In 1988 she became the second wife of the Argentinian born pianist Daniel Barenboim. They had met while Barenboim was still married to the British cellist Jacqueline du Pré. By the time Barenboim met Bashkirova, du Pré had been diagnosed for several years with multiple sclerosis. During the last years of du Pré's illness, Barenboim and Bashkirova lived together and had two sons. The younger son Michael is a classical violinist and the elder David is a manager-writer for the German hip-hop band Level 8.

Bashkirova was previously married to the violinist Gidon Kremer.