Alexey Arkhipovsky was born on May 15, 1967 in Tuapse, Krasnodar Region. Passion for music was passed down from his father, who played the accordion as a child, and in the 50s on the accordion. At the age of 9 he entered the music school in balalaika class. During his studies he repeatedly participated and was the prize-winner of city and regional competitions. At the end of the music school he gave his first solo concert from two departments. In 1982 he entered the Gnessin State Medical University on the department of folk instruments in the specialty of balalaika in the class of Zazhigin Valery Evgenievich. In 1985 he received the title of Laureate at the 3rd All-Russian competition of folk instruments performers. After graduating from school, since 1989 he worked as a soloist in the Smolensk Russian Folk Orchestra under the baton of V.P. Dubrovsky. It was there that the first experiments in the field of new expressive possibilities of balalaika-solo began. In 1998 he was invited as a soloist to the State Academic Russian Folk Ensemble "Russia" under the direction of L.G. Zykina. Together with the ensemble he toured a lot in Russia and abroad. Since 2002-2003 he started his solo career, which continues to this day.
Alexei Arkhipovsky considers his triangular instrument to be a treasure trove of mysteries and riddles similar to the mysterious Kheops pyramid. He does not get tired of solving them, so - to surprise his grateful audience with new discoveries and discoveries. "I don't consider myself a balalaika maker in the generally accepted sense... And I don't treat the balalaika as a Russian folk instrument, but as an instrument on which one can do anything", the performer admits.
Alexei ArkhipovskyEgo is often compared to Paganini or Hendricks - musicians who have turned the minds of listeners, forcing them to look at the possibilities of violin and guitar in a new way. Arkhipovsky also created a different style of balalaika playing, combining authentic, guitar and original techniques of sound extraction with a revolutionary innovation - "electrification" of the instrument.
A universal musician free of style and genre frames, Arkhipovsky is a welcome guest at festivals of classical, ethnic, folklore and jazz music, as well as at concert venues, the number of which is growing rapidly both in Russia and abroad. In 2011, the virtuoso was included in the Russian Book of Records in the category "World's Best Ballet Man".
A report from the festival dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Fender music server "Sound.ru":
"...Alexei Arkhipovsky, who was met with a bit of a bewildered applause, performed in such a way that the program of the evening should be closed. A world-class balalaika virtuoso who owns the balalaika not even in perfection, but beyond understanding, he deafly "closed" all the technical tricks shown before him with his ten-minute sketch, and in music he was more inventive than ever.
Audio Video magazine:
"Aleksey Arkhipovsky, a balalaiechnic, became a sensation immediately after his first appearance before the general public. He literally ripped off the guitar (!) festival at the Central House of Artists, where he gave out a 10-minute solo number, demonstrating amazing musical and acting skills. It was a real theatre of virtuoso play and dizzying performing kunstuks, mimics and gestures. Many listeners compared Arkhipovsky with Hendrix himself, not much, not much! Translated with
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