Pavel Vernikov, a student of David Oistrach and S. Snitkowsky, gained a reputation as a virtuoso violinist more than twenty years ago. Among other prizes he won the International ARD Violin Competition in Munich and the Grand Prix at the International Violin Competition “Vittorio Gui” in Florence. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, La Salle Gaveau in Paris, La Scala in Milan and Santa Cecilia in Rome.
For the past 30 years he has been a member of the Tchaikovsky Trio.
His artistic partners have included Sviatoslav Richter, James Galway, Alain Meunier, Patrick Gallois, Maria Tipo, Natalia Gutman, Oleg Kagan, Yuri Bashmet, Elisso Virsaladze, Christian Zimmermann and Anthony Pay. He inaugurated the Russian Academy of Higher Learning in Portogruaro and was the Artistic Director of the Gubbio Music Festival, the Dubrovnik Chamber Music Festival and the Eilat Chamber Music Festival.
He teaches and gives masterclasses around the world, in Italy, France, Finland, Spain (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia Madrid), Israel (Rubin Academy), Germany (Kronberg Academy), etc. and has been invited to be a member of the jury at international competitions (Szigeti, Kreisler, Gui, ARD-Competition in Munich, Sendai (Japan), Budapest, Sarasate, Wieniawski, etc.).
Pavel Vernikov has recorded for RCA, Ondine and Dynamic.
He was a Professor at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Lyon. At present he is a Professor at the famous Konservatorium Wien University and at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Site de Sion).
Among his many laureate students are people like Massimo Quarta (1. Prize Paganini International Violin Competition, Genua), Fumiaki Miura (1. Prize Hannover International Violin Competition), Lorenza Borrani (Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Fanny Clamagirand (1. Prize Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition, Vienna and 1. Prize International Monte Carlo Violin Competition) and Miki Kobayashi (2. Prize Wieniawski Competition).
In 2013 he was appointed Artistic Director of the Sion Festival in Switzerland, and in 2023, he was appointed as the Artistic Director of the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition, whose inaugural edition is set to take place in 2025 in Dubai, UAE.
Pavel Vernikov plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, 1757, violin.