Anton Gakkel was born in 1974 in Leningrad (St Petersburg). From 1981–1992 he studied at the Specialised Middle School of Music of the St Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire.
In 1997 he graduated from the St Petersburg Conservatoire itself (cello class of Professor Anatoly Nikitin).
In 1993 he attended master-classes of Peter Bruns and Jan Vogler at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden.
From 1994–1998 he was a member of the Mariinsky Orchestra with which he toured to many parts of Europe as well as the USA, Israel, South Korea and Japan.
From 1998–2012 he was a soloist with the Orquesta Sinfónica of Spanish Radio and TV (RTVE). He has appeared as a soloist with the Fatum String Trio throughout Spain as well as in Argentina (2004), Bolivia (2006), Germany (2005), Russia (2005), Portugal (2005), the USA and Canada (2006, 2007).
Recipient of the 1st prize at the International Chamber Music Competition in Pozoblanco (2003).
Trained as an assistant in the class of Professor Vasily Sinaisky at the St Petersburg Conservatoire (2010). Since 2011 he has conducted the Orquesta de Jóvenes de la Provincia de Alicante with which he appeared at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Germany) in August 2012.
Since 2008 he has been a soloist of the European Royal Ensemble in Madrid, with which he made his debut as a conductor in 2012.
Anton Gakkel currently combines his activities as a conductor and a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra. In the 2013–2014 season he conducted a series of concerts with the orchestra at the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre. In August 2014 he ended the season with a successful tour together with the Mariinsky Youth Orchestra in Spain.
The conductor’s engagements for the current season include a series of concerts entitled The Mariinsky Orchestra: Soloists and Youth.
Anton Gakkel currently combines his activities as a conductor and a soloist with the Mariinsky Orchestra.