Concertmaster of the first violins' section
Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation

Mikhail Shestakov was trained as a musician by Zinaida Gilels and Irina Svetlova in the Secondary special music school named after the Gnesins, and by Semen Snitkovsky and Marina Yashvili in the Moscow Conservatory. From 1980 he worked in the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra under Veronika Dudarova.

He started work in the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra in 1988. In 1992 he became the Orchestra's concertmaster. Mikhail Shestakov's repertory includes solos in major symphony scores of Russian and foreign composers, ranging from Bach's compositions to the symphonies of Mahler and Shostakovish. He repeatedly toured with the Orchestra as a soloist, including such countries as Germany and Great Britain. Many a time critics in lots of countries praised his vivid timbre and the heartfelt sound of his interpretations. He also heads the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra's string quartet, which regularly performs various chamber music programs both in Russia and abroad — in the USA and Finland.