Ilia Kozlov was born to a family of violinists. He entered the St. Petersburg State Conservatory Secondary Special Music School at the age of six. He is the winner of many International Competitions such as Mravinsky International Competition, Tchaikovsky Youth Competition, Glazunov International Competition and Andrea Postacchini International violin Competition. In 2002 he became a laureate of the Yuri Temirkanov Award.

Ilia Kozlov takes part in many International Festivals and has toured to Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and other European countries.