Anton Ilyunin was born in 1979 in Ashgabat into a musical family. He received his first violin lessons from his mother, Elizaveta Ilyunina, a teacher at the Special Music School of the Turkmen National Conservatory. He furthered his education at the Special Music School in Ashgabat and at the National Conservatory in the class of Z. Akhmedzhanova. He continued his studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in the class of Alexander Stang (2002) and at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin (2009).His first performance with the Turkmen Chamber Orchestra took place at the age of 9. From 1996 to 1998, he won various national and international competitions for young performers, both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles.Subsequently, Anton collaborated with the State Symphony Orchestra of Turkmenistan, performing a series of violin concerts, including the premiere of a violin concerto by the classic of the Turkmen composer school, Veli Mukhatov. Frim 2001 to 2006, Anton Ilyunin became an artist of the Symphony Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic under the direction of Yuri Temirkanov, where he served as deputy concertmaster of the second violin section.In 2000, together with like-minded friends, he organised the Atrium String Quartet, which became a laureate of numerous international competitions, including the First Prize at the Quartet Competition in London in 2003 and the Grand Prix at the Quartet Competition in Bordeaux in 2007. After important victories, the quartet became one of the most prominent chamber ensembles of its generation on the international scene. Over the past 20 years, the Atrium Quartet has performed more than 1000 concerts in over 30 countries on five continents, and is a regular guest at the world’s finest concert halls, including those in its hometown of St. Petersburg. Recordings by the quartet, released by companies such as EMI Classics, Outhere, and Profil Haenssler, receiving top marks from listeners and critics, have been named Recordings of the Month by Gramophone and Luister magazines. The quartet’s extensive concert repertoire includes cycles of quartets by Shostakovich, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, as well as practically the entire quartet repertoire of Russian and Soviet composers.This season, the Atrium Quartet performs a cycle of Beethoven quartets at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and at the Fürstenried Palace in Munich, as well as a series of concerts in Berlin, Hamburg, and Lausanne. During the season, the quartet plans to record two new albums featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev and Turkmen composers Chara Nurymov and Nury Khalmamedov. Parallel to chamber music, Anton Ilyunin regularly performs as a soloist with various chamber and symphonic ensembles. His solo repertoire includes works by Bach, Vivaldi, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius. He regularly performs in duet with his wife, cellist Anna Gorelova. The duo’s programs include chamber works by Ravel, Kodály, and Bach, as well as Brahms’ Concerto for Violin and Cello. In 2020-2021, Anton Ilyunin recorded Prokofiev’s sonatas for violin and piano in a duet with Evgeny Izotov, as well as Prokofiev’s solo violin sonata and his sonata for two violins, where he performs both violin parts himself.His teaching activities include regular masterclasses, which Anton Ilyunin conducts for young performers in various countries, including conservatories in Beijing and Tokyo, as well as masterclasses in the United States, United Kingdom, and Brazil