In Memoriam: Rinat Ibragimov

Rinat Ibragimov

Double bassist Rinat Ibragimov, who long served as principal bassist of the London Symphony Orchestra, has passed away. He was 60 years old. The news was shared in part by the LSO, who shared a short tribute to him.

“Rinat became Principal Double Bass of the LSO in 1995 after serving as Principal of the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra for many years,” they write. “In 2014 he tragically suffered a major stroke and was unable to perform, although he remained active as a teacher at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He was made Principal Emeritus Double Bass in recognition of the service he provided to the LSO. A superb musician, inspirational teacher and wonderful colleague, he will be much missed by everyone at the LSO and we send our thoughts to his wife Lutsia, daughter Alina and son Timur at this sad time.”

Ibragimov was born in Moscow and studied cello for a decade before taking on the double bass as his main instrument at the age of 16. Under the tutelage of Evgeny Kolosov at the Moscow Conservatory, Ibragimov became a standout bassist in all of the Soviet Union. He won the All-Soviet Competition in 1984 as well as the Giovanni Bottesini Internation Competition in Parma, Italy in 1989. From there, he won the principal bass chair at the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. He also began teaching at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory before leaving for London in 1995. His teaching career continued in 2007 when he joined the faculty at the Royal College of Music.

It was around the same time that he cemented his solo bass career. His repertoire includes works by Bach, Koussevitsky, Vanhal, and more. Watch his astounding performance of the Bottesini Concerto for Double Bass No. 2 in B Minor:

Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Rinat Ibragimov.

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Leave a Reply to Vinny Sansone Cancel reply

  1. Vinny Sansone

    I’m absolutely speechless. I know he was Lee Sklar’s favorite bassist and possibly Jeff Berlin’s as well. Just breathtaking. RIP ???

  2. Zbigniew Borowicz

    I studied with the same professor as Rinat – E.A. Kolosov at the P.I. Tchaikovsky in Moscow. Here is my homage to Rinat :

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpzEVDvrAjQ&lc=Ugy4oFUz9crknM7D22B4AaABAg&fbclid=IwAR2kI8Jhwc0kDteP_rGnDiVictTRlFndbfsnnXvPTx6QdyeuH6wrGRN4kNw