As the orchestra concertmaster is always a violinist, it seems natural that great conductors are often great violinists. Here we list some of the most notable.

When a feature writer for Great British Life magazine interviewed Sir Neville Marriner, the English violinist who founded and conducted the orchestra at the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, in 2008, he asked the aging virtuoso what he would like written on his tombstone. Pausing for just a moment,…