Grammy Award-winning violinist and conductor extraordinaire Maxim Vengerov is acclaimed for his concerts, recordings, and humanitarian work. The Siberian-born star discusses his discipline as a young musician, why he wanted to be a conductor by age 3, and how he knew at age 5 he had a natural gift for the violin. He reminisces about learning to play while wearing warm gloves, how music became his ticket to the world, and sets the record straight about why he punched his beloved teacher. To close out the conversation Maxim talks about a memorable experience as UNICEF's Goodwill Ambassador, David shares his excitement about performing with Maxim and The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra next month at Carnegie Hall, and our guest recalls "freaking out" on Carnegie's stage many years ago. 

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Photograph of Maxim Vengerov by Davide Cerati.

The Speaking Soundly theme song is composed by Joseph Saba/Stewart Winter and used by permission of Videohelper.

Speaking Soundly was co-created by David Krauss and Jessica Handelman. 

This interview has been edited and condensed to fit the time format.

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