Alexander Vavilov

Alexander’s playing has been hailed as “outgoing and propulsive” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer and “exuberant” and “expressive” by the Boston Arts Diary. He regularly performs as both principal and section player with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Odyssey Opera, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Vista Philharmonic. He can also be heard playing with the Radius Ensemble, Boston Ballet, and Boston Pops.

Alexander has performed on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Groton Hill Concert Hall, and Shalin Liu Performance Center and played chamber music with the Borromeo Quartet, Marcus Thompson, James Buswell, Barbara Westphal, and Ronald Leonard. He can be heard on recordings by the BMOP/Sound and Carl Fischer labels. Festival appearances include Tanglewood, Sarasota, Monadnock, and Meadowmount. 

In 2009 Alex was the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award winner. He was also a finalist at the 2007 Atlantic Symphony Concerto Competition, also a finalist at the 2004 ASTA National Solo Competition, and the 1st prize winner at the 2003 ASTA with MSOA solo competition. 

A violist and co-founder of Sheffield Chamber Players, Alex also served as the group’s executive director until 2021 and is currently serving as host relations coordinator and co-artistic director.

In 2022 Alexander founded “Soundscape Visions”, an interdisciplinary collaborative project fusing music and visual art in performance. That same year, in response to Russia’s brutal invasion of his homeland, Alex launched the Relief Fund for Ukrainian Musicians with the Lisa Batiashvili Foundation. Together, they raised over $130,000 in emergency funds for over 200 Ukrainian musicians from areas that were hit the hardest by the invasion.

Alexander’s studies include the Boston Conservatory with Patricia McCarty and New England Conservatory with Kim Kashkashian. Additional studies with Joseph Silverstein, James Buswell, Roger Tapping, James Dunham, Misha Amory, and Robert Vernon. Currently Alexander is on faculty at Winchester Community Music School. When he is not busy performing or teaching, Alex enjoys inline skating, sourdough bread baking, and mushroom foraging.

Alexander performs on a 2012 Thomas Bertrand viola.