Rustam Komachkov was born to the family of the outstanding double-bass player Rifat Komachkov and began to study the cello at the age of seven. He trained at the Gnessin School of Music and the Moscow Conservatoire (class of Valentin Feigin) and completed a postgraduate study at the conservatoire (cello class of Alexander Knyaz, chamber ensemble class of Alexander Melnikov). 
He was the victor at a series of Russian and international competitions including the All-Russian Cello Competition and international chamber ensemble competitions in Vercelli and Caltanissetta (Italy). In 1993 he won 1st prize at the International Competition in Trapani (Italy). 
Rustam Komachkov has been acclaimed as one of the most talented cellists of his generation. He frequently performs in concerts, appearing as a soloist as well as with chamber ensembles. The musician’s repertoire includes cello concerti from various eras by such diverse composers as Vivaldi, Shostakovich and Prokofiev as well as solo works and chamber music. Rustam Komachkov has appeared at the finest concert halls of Russia and the CIS as well as in Austria, Germany, Serbia, Italy, South Korea, The Netherlands, Croatia, Montenegro, Argentina, France, Finland and China. He has worked with conductors including Vladimir Verbitsky, Yuri Kochnev, Teodor Currentzis, Anatoly Rybalko, Konstantin Krimets, Rauf Abdullayev, Rashid Nigmatulin, Sergei Oselkov, Igor Frolov, Vladislav Bulakhov and Mikhail Rakhlevsky. 
He has appeared at the Sviatoslav Richter December Evenings festival, the  Diaghilev Festival in Perm, the  Levitan Music Festival in Plyos, the festival Towards Vyborg, the  Sobinov Festival in Saratov, the  Moscow Autumn festival, the International Festival of Chamber Music in Kuressaare (Estonia) and the International Tariverdiev Festival in Kaliningrad. He frequently takes part in cultural programmes of major Russian film festivals including Centaur, Window on Europe and Spirit of Fire 
Much of the cellist’s work is connected with contemporary music. Komachkov has been the first performer of many works by Alexander Vustin, Sergei Akhunov, Yevgeny Shcherbakov and Dmitry Borodaev, while Mikael Tariverdiev and Isaac Schwartz have produced new versions of their own works specially for him. The musician frequently collaborates with the composer Leonid Desyatnikov and appears at concerts of his music throughout Russia and Europe. 
Rustam Komachkov’s discography includes six albums recorded together with the companies Melodiya, Classical Records, Sonic-Solution and Bohemia Music. The musician’s most recent solo discs include the albums Violin Masterpieces on the Cello and Oak-Leaf Cello. Komachkov’s recordings are regularly broadcast on radio stations including Orfei, Kultura and Peterburg.