Russian-born cellist Nina Kotova has a prominent career that is exceptional in several respects. She has made top-level appearances in her home country, in continental Europe, in Britain, and in the U.S. And she has cultivated a high-fashion image that has seen her make the cover of the likes of Vogue and Elle, as well as appearing frequently on the covers of classical music magazines. Kotova was born in what was then the Soviet Union on October 27, 1969. She made her first appearance as an orchestral soloist at 11 and went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory, graduating with top honors. She made a splash in the West with a concert at Barbican Center in London in 1996. That led to the Philips label's released of her debut album, Nina Kotova, which became a best-seller. Kotova has also performed at Red Square in Moscow in a live broadcast, and at Buckingham Palace for the Prince of Wales, and has also played a concert for the Imperial family of Japan. In Europe she has performed at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Philharmonic in Berlin, and her American credits include concerts at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. She has appeared on Breakfast with the Arts on the U.S. A&E cable channel, as well as on the Hard Talk and Charlie Rose talk shows. She has been featured on the covers of Classic FM, Gramophone China, Il Venerdi Italia, and Reader’s Digest magazines. Kotova is the founder of the Festival del Sole in California's Napa Valley and of Italy's Tuscan Sun Festival. She has taught at the University of Texas in Austin, where she was commissioned to compose a triple concerto. She has composed a Cello Concerto of her own and recorded it in 2002 for the Delos label, along with repertory pieces by Bruch and Bloch. A hiatus in Kotova's recording career followed, but she returned in 2014 with Bach: The Cello Suites. In 2017 Delos released her album Tchaikovsky, with the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Fedoseyev.