Vengerov was born the only child of Aleksandr and Larisa Borisovna, oboist and orphanage children’s choir director respectively. He began studying the violin at age 5 with Galina Turchaninova. At the age of 10, Vengerov won the 1984 International Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski Young Violin Player Competition. For the next five years he was a pupil of Zakhar Bron, who in 1987 left the Soviet Union to teach at the Royal Academy of Music in London. When Bron relocated to the Musikhochschule Lübeck, Vengerov followed suit. In 1990, Vengerov won the International Carl Flesch Competition in London, which led to his recording contract with Teldec and the launch of his international career.