From an early age Kogan's artistic development was divided between conducting and violin. He was granted special permission to study both disciplines at the same time which was a rarity in the Soviet Union. In 1970, Kogan, a violin pupil of
Yuri Yankelevich at the
Moscow Conservatory, shared the 1st prize in the
Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki with
Liana Isakadze. Thereafter he appeared regularly as a violinist in concerts around the world. As a conducting pupil of
Ilya Musin and
Leo Ginsburg, in 1972 the young Kogan gave his debut with the
USSR State Symphony Orchestra and subsequently focused more on conducting. In the years that followed he conducted the leading Soviet orchestras both at home and on tour abroad at the invitation of
Mravinsky, Kondrashin,
Svetlanov and Rozhdestvensky. In 1988, as a conductor of the
Bolshoi Opera, Kogan opened the season with a new production of Verdi's La Traviata. That same year he became the head of the
Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra. From 1989 until 2022, Pavel Kogan was the music director and chief conductor of the
Moscow State Symphony Orchestra (MSSO), building it into one of Russia's most widely known orchestras. From 1998 to 2005, he served as principal guest conductor of the
Utah Symphony Orchestra. Kogan appeared with many prominent orchestras including the
St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra,
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, USSR State Radio & TV Symphony Orchestra,
Philadelphia Orchestra,
Los Angeles Philharmonic,
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Munich Philharmonic,
Orchestre National de Belgique,
Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra,
RTVE Symphony Orchestra,
Toronto Symphony Orchestra,
Staatskapelle Dresden, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, L'
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande,
Orchestre National de France,
Houston Symphony, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and the
Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. Pavel Kogan has recorded several works with the MSSO and other ensembles. Gramophone called Kogan's Rachmaninoff cycle (Symphonies 1, 2, 3, Symphonic Dances, "Isle of the Dead," "Vocalise and Scherzo") "…sparkly, strongly communicative Rachmaninoff... vibrant, soulful and involving." Kogan was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for his performance of the complete symphonies and vocal cycles of Gustav Mahler. He is a member of the
Russian Academy of Arts and recipient of the "Order of Merit" of Russia and of the title "Peoples' Artist of Russia" among other Russian and overseas awards. ==Personal life==