Arseniy Zakharov was born in 2002 in Moscow. He began his musical education at the Children’s School of Arts in Lobnya, where he studied violin under Lydia Skopintseva and piano under Nina Pavlova. He later continued his studies at Moscow School of Arts No. 17 with Lydia Skopintseva. Following this, he graduated from the Central Music School affiliated with the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, where he trained in violin under Alexander Revich. Since 2021, he has been studying viola at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory under Roman Balashov, an Honored Artist of the Russian Federation and Associate Professor. Arseniy is a laureate of multiple composition competitions, including the Grand Prix of the First All-Russian Competition for Young Composers and Music Journalists named after N. Medtner (2018), the Second Prize at the International Competition named after V. Gavrilin (2019), and the First Prize at the International Composition Competition named after Zagir Ismagilov (2020). In 2023, he earned the Second Prize and a special award for the best performance of Alfred Schnittke’s concerto at the 9th Yuri Bashmet International Viola Competition “Viola Masters.” He is the composer of symphonic, choral, and chamber works, as well as the opera “The Wild Swans,” based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. Arseniy has also conducted performances of his own orchestral compositions. Since 2022, he has been a participant in the programs of the Saint Petersburg Music House.
 
Arseniy Zakharov: My parents are both musicians and singers. Since childhood, I’ve been surrounded by the sound of vocal warm-ups—relentlessly climbing higher and higher, like time itself, only to descend just as inexorably into what felt like the “underworld.” Sometimes, I’d visit the opera theater where my father worked, usually when the hot water at home was turned off. No, it wasn’t for the music, but it played on regardless. No one ever set out to make me a musician on purpose, but I was fortunate to have an excellent first teacher, Lydia Ivanovna Skopintseva. Combined with the professional guidance I always received at home, this played a decisive role in my musical journey.
 
Saint Petersburg Music House (SPMH): You began your studies with both piano and violin. Both instruments require a great deal of effort. Did they make your childhood significantly more challenging?
Arseniy Zakharov: It happened because, for bureaucratic reasons, I was unable to continue studying under my violin teacher at one of the music schools. As a result, I graduated from two music schools—one in Lobnya and the other in Moscow. However, I didn’t fully combine the two; I primarily studied as a violinist, with general piano lessons being a common part of the curriculum. My specialized training was focused on violin at just one school.
 
SPMH: What do you remember about your first major performance on a big stage? 
Arseniy Zakharov: That would probably be the first of three times I performed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with an orchestra. I was terrified. The introduction, which always struck me as slightly ominous, began, and I couldn’t help but calculate how much lay ahead to play. I honestly couldn’t fathom how I was going to do it. That concerto often haunted my nightmares, and I consistently botched all the rehearsals. But during the performances, I would channel an almost superhuman level of concentration, and everything would fall into place. Still, the amount of nerves it took to get to that point was extraordinary.
 
SPMH: What captivated you about the viola?
Arseniy Zakharov: The viola didn’t captivate me. If anything, I’m still trying—with varying degrees of success—to conquer it. And it resists. Our relationship can hardly be called smooth, and I’m not talking about the viola as a concept but the specific instrument I play. However, when we manage to find common ground, there’s no stopping us. As for the decision to switch to the viola, it was made with a level-headed rationality as cold as a Yakutian winter. Initially, I didn’t even want to become a performer. I loved composing and conducting. I graduated from the Central Music School as a violinist, but I didn’t feel like one of the best. I had decided: I would finish CMS and then become a great conductor. I even called Professor Anatoly Abramovich Levin, whom I adored and still do. I dreamed he would accept me as his student. In response to my grand ambitions, he told me I was essentially planning an act of financial suicide. That may sound harsh, but it’s the truth. Just look at a symphonic concert stage—count how many jobs there are for conductors and how many for everyone else. Summing up our conversation, the conclusion was clear: I needed a “normal” profession first, and then I could pursue anything I wanted. At that point, a thought that had been brewing for some time began to solidify: the technical skills I had painstakingly developed through grueling violin practice could allow me to achieve a great deal on the viola with comparatively less effort. Besides, my physiology was undeniably more suited to the viola—my hands always felt cramped on the violin. In simple terms, I switched to the viola to practice less and devote more time to my other passions. But things turned out quite differently. I no longer plan to conduct, I compose only rarely, and I play the viola extensively. And I enjoy it.
 
SPMH: How long does it take you to learn a new piece? 
Arseniy Zakharov: The faster, the better—because after learning the notes, there’s still so much work left to do. It depends on the piece. For example, I started learning the third movement of Revol Bunin’s Sonata just three days before a live broadcast, and that was enough. But I love taking my time when possible. Then I can enjoy not only the result but also the process. Unfortunately, during a repertoire rush, that kind of pleasure is out of the question. As for how much time I spend practicing, it varies depending on the circumstances: the amount of material and the dates of upcoming concerts. Sometimes I only practice in small doses, just enough to maintain my form. Other times, it’s nonstop—so much so that I stop counting.
 
SPMH: Recently, you participated in the “Night of the Arts” event with the Saint Petersburg Music House, performing Schnittke’s Viola Concerto to mark the 90th anniversary of the composer’s birth. What do you personally value most about this work?
Arseniy Zakharov: What I cherish most about Schnittke’s Viola Concerto is the deeply personal feeling that it has always been a part of me, as if I was born with it. This doesn’t mean it’s free of challenges—there are definitely difficulties. But I have this indescribable sense that the concerto is ingrained in my very essence, like it’s part of my bloodstream, and when I perform it, I feel like I’m narrating it in the first person.
 
SPMH: Schnittke’s idea for this concerto reportedly took nearly a decade to come to fruition. Can you relate to such prolonged creative processes?
Arseniy Zakharov: I wouldn’t attribute it solely to deliberation. Naturally, I’m not in a position to provide a definitive answer, but Schnittke wasn’t some isolated recluse. He was as passionately adored as he was intensely criticized, but most importantly, he was always in the spotlight and sparked great interest. According to Bashmet and Schnittke himself, he postponed starting the Viola Concerto for years because he was preoccupied with other commissioned projects, even though the idea had been taking shape. If we think of his First Violin Concerto and the solo violin theme at the start of its first movement, he supposedly worked on that theme for about a month, which you can distinctly hear. But I doubt the Viola Concerto followed the same process.
 
SPMH: You started composing music at quite a young age. What inspired you?
Arseniy Zakharov: Looking back, I’m not sure whether these are truly my memories or stories someone else told me… I think the inspiration came in two stages. The first was when I discovered I could improvise endlessly, which gave me immense freedom. The second was what I’d call my first crush. Well, not exactly love, but at 11 years old, it was like a window opened and let in some unknown breeze. However, the person who opened that metaphorical window remained distant and indifferent. So, my first audience was my parents, and occasionally my classmates. Once, I even used a Russian language or literature class to showcase my Symphony, providing commentary as I played. My seventy-year-old teacher, Alla Vasilievna, and I shared a bond warmer than what you’d find in even the closest families. I think she was the only one who genuinely enjoyed my Symphony, simply because she cared about me, just as I cared about her.
 
SPMH: At one of the Saint Petersburg Music House’s Summer Academies in Crimea, during a session for young composers, you composed a piece titled “In Dialogue with Bach” for solo viola. What was the nature of this dialogue?
Arseniy Zakharov: It was an emotional exchange where my voice took the lead. The concept was straightforward and far from groundbreaking: to begin in Bach’s style and then gradually overpower him. But I don’t believe he’d take it personally—I didn’t touch his actual compositions, only his stylistic approach. Now, in the case of Xavier Montsalvatge’s Morphological Disintegration of Bach’s Chaconne, the original composer might have legitimate grounds to feel offended, as that work directly uses his material, but that’s not my debate to weigh in on.
 
SPMH: Are there any other composers you could engage in a similar musical dialogue with, as you did with Bach?
Arseniy Zakharov: I already have! To a large extent, every new piece of music is a conversation with existing compositions, and existing works always come with names. I’ve directly “spoken” with Tchaikovsky. I wrote a piece called Sketch on a Theme by Tchaikovsky, where I wove the theme of Robert’s aria “Who Can Compare to My Matilda” from Iolanta throughout the composition. In the end, I let it fade away mournfully and bid it a sorrowful farewell with a funeral chorale. It’s a rather poignant story.
 
SPMH: From a professional perspective, what has two years of working with the Saint Petersburg Music House brought to your career?
Arseniy Zakharov: I am deeply thankful to the Saint Petersburg Music House because it has helped me feel professionally valued, and that sense of being needed was something I had been missing not too long ago. 
SPMH: Compared to the violin repertoire, the viola repertoire is relatively limited. As a performer, what kind of music do you wish was available to you?
Arseniy Zakharov: Maybe I haven’t been involved in this “business” long enough yet, but so far, I don’t find the viola repertoire to be too constrained. It’s more accurate to say that it’s simply different. Let’s think of the violin repertoire as the Amazon River and the viola repertoire as Lake Baikal. The Amazon spans a greater area, but Baikal has more depth. There’s still so much left to uncover…
 
Interview by Tatyana Mikhailova