Eugenia Alikhanova, 1st Violin

Eugenia Alikhanova was born in Moscow, into a family with rich musical traditions. Her mother, Slava Roshal, was a famous Russian violinist. Sadly, she is not well-known in the west, as she was married to the brilliant (and therefore secreted into the recesses of Western history) Russian physic, Abram Alikhanov. Eugenia’s older brother, Tigran, went on in life to become a famous pianist, teacher and professor of the Moscow Conservatory.

Ms. Alikhanova was a student of the great Russian teacher Yuri Yankelevich, the mentor of many astounding violinists such as Nelli Shkolnikova, Vladimir Spiakov, Victor Tretiakov, Mikhail Kopelman, and others of their caliber.

She finished at the Central Music School and the Moscow Conservatory in the class of Y. Yankelevich. Even during the years of her own education at the conservatory, Eugenia was teaching. She worked as an assistant to Y. Yankelevich at CMS, and later taught at the Ippolitov-Ivanov Music College and the Gnessin Musical Institute in Moscow.

E. Alikhanova is the founder and the first violinist of the Moscow String Quartet, which was founded in 1975. Aside from the quartet, however, Eugenia has also played in various other chamber ensembles, and has also performed often as a soloist. She performs an a Joseph Guarneri Del Jesu violin of the year 1736.

Since 1991, Eugenia and her son Andrew, a clarinetist, have been living in Colorado. Eugenia’s favorite pastimes, aside from music, are her beloved dog Tosha and, when she has time free from the quartet and her private violin students, she enjoys hiking and gathering mushrooms in the mountains.

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