Alexey Vitalyevich Arkhipovsky (also spelled as Arhipovskiy, ; born 15 May 1967) is a modern-day Russian

balalaika The balalaika (, ) is a Russian string instrument, stringed musical instrument with a characteristic triangular wooden, hollow body, fretted neck, and three strings. Two strings are usually tuned to the same note and the third string is a perf ...

player.

Personal life

Alexey Arkhipovsky was born in 1967 in the town of

Tuapse Tuapse (; , Ṫuapsă ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of a resort zone which extends sou ...

Krasnodar Krai Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the t ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. His father was passionate for music and played the

garmon The garmon ( rus, гармо́нь, p=gɐˈrmonʲ, links=yes, from rus, гармо́ника, p=gɐˈrmonʲɪkə, r=garmonika, cognate of English ''harmonica''), commonly called garmoshka, is a kind of Russian button accordion, a free-reed w ...

and the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

. At the age of nine Arkhipovsky started to take

lessons at a music school. In 1982, he entered the

Gnessin State Musical College The Gnessin State College of Music () and Gnessin Russian Academy of Music () comprise a music school in Moscow.Moisenko, Rena. (1949) ''Realist Music: 25 Soviet Composers,'' London: Meridian Book, Ltd. History Originally known as the Gnessi ...

, the department of folk instruments, and studied the balalaika under Valery Zazhigin.

Musical career

In 1985 Arkhipovsky became a

laureate In English, the word laureate has come to signify eminence or association with literary awards or Military awards and decorations, military glory. It is also used for recipients of the Nobel Prize, the Gandhi Peace Award, the Student Peace Pri ...

of the Contest of Folk Instrument Performers in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Upon completing his studies, he joined the Smolensk Folk Orchestra as a balalaika soloist. From 1998 on he toured around

and abroad with the State Academic Folk Ensemble "Rossiya" directed by

Lyudmila Zykina Lyudmila Georgievna Zykina (; 10 June 1929 – 1 July 2009) was a national folk singer of Russia. She was born in Moscow and joined the Pyatnitsky Choir in 1947. Her surname is derived from the Russian word for "loud" ("зычный"). Beginn ...

. Starting from 2002, he cooperated with

Stas Namin Anastas Alekseevich Mikoyan (born November 8, 1951, known professionally as Stas Namin) is a rock musician known as the leader of the popular Soviet music group Tsvety (). He is also a composer, actor, record producer, and director, and len ...

, the musician, composer, and record producer. As a soloist-performer, Alexey Arkhipovsky took part in Russian culture festivals in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. He participated in

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

festivals in

and abroad, in radio and TV programmes. In 2004

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

remarked that Alexei Arkhipovsky's balalaika solo on weeklong

Russian Nights Festival Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, (was) full of impressive irony and virtuosity. In August 2006 the Dutch daily «

De Volkskrant ''De Volkskrant'' (; ), stylized as de Volkskrant, is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium- ...

» commented about Arhipovsky participating in the Jazz Zomer Fiets Tour in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

: “Arhipovsky is a mix of such guitar’s gods as

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (24 June 1944 – 10 January 2023) was an English musician. He rose to prominence as the guitarist of the rock band the Yardbirds, and afterwards founded and fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, ...

and

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

and this on a traditional triangular and three stringed folk instrument. His technique catches breath; his sound is all-spacious. The sparkling expressiveness in his rendering of traditional melodies sets your teeth on edge”.http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2844/Archief/archief/article/detail/787458/2006/08/28/Russen-maken-er-in-Groningen-meer-een-tentoonstelling-van.dhtml In 2009, he was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the second semi final of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

in Moscow. The reactions to his performance included comparisons to

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

but with a

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...

approach.

Original discography

*DVD album “Alexey Arhipovsky” 2009

References

External links

Official site
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Arkhipovsky, Alexey 1967 births Russian balalaika players People from Tuapse Living people