ALEXANDER ZEMTSOV has repeatedly visited Bulgaria as a soloist and conductor. Born in 1978 into the family of musicians, he attended the Gnessin Academy of Music, a renowned school for gifted children, where he studied under Professor Elena Ozol. Later on, he continued his education with Prof. Michael Kugel at the Hoogeschool Maastricht and did his postgraduate studies at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule Berlin in the class of Prof. Tabea Zimmermann. Since the age of fifteen, Zemtsov has been extensively performing with different orchestras throughout Europe, the United States, Asia and Australia, having played as a soloist under the baton of Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Jurovski, Leif Segerstam and Alexander Vedernikov. At the age of twenty-three, Zemtsov was appointed Principal Violist of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He was the principal guest violist of the symphony orchestras of London, Birmingham, the Bavarian Radio and the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, he left the London Philharmonic and devoted himself entirely to his career as soloist, conductor, chamber performer and instructor. He is the Principal Conductor of the International New Symphony Orchestra (INSO) of Lwow, collaborating with them in recordings for the British Toccata Classics recording label. As a conductor and soloist, Zemtsov has performed with the Lappeenranta Οrchestra and theSinfonia Finlandia. His appearances as conductor include performances with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra and Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker at the Opera Theater in Rijeka, Croatia.
Laureate of the International Classical Heritage Competition – Moscow, the Elise Meyer Competition in Hamburg and the Eighth Brahms Competition in Pörtschach.Zemtsov has played chamber music with partners such as Peter Donohoe, Patrick Gallois, Ithamar Golan, Natalia Gutman, Mischa Mayski, Gerhard Schultz and Dmitry Sitkovetsky. His recordings as violist were released by the Chandos, LPO Live, Navis Classics, Naxos and Toccata Classics labels.
Alexander Zemtsov has lectured at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama of London. Professor at the Vienna Konservatorium Privat Universitat.Professeur Alto at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausane in Switzerland and Professor für Viola at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln.