Born in 1970 into a family of engineers, he began his musical studies at an early age. In Orel, he graduated fr om a music school with a major in piano, and later completed his studies at the choral conducting department of the Orel Music College.
After being drafted into the Armed Forces, he was transferred to the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Moscow Military District, and subsequently to the A. V. Alexandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army (twice awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the Order of the Red Star), first as a choir member and later as a soloist of the renowned ensemble.
In 2002, Alexander Zakharov graduated fr om the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music (class of People’s Artist of Russia K. Lisovsky) with a degree in classical vocal performance.
In 1999, he joined the troupe of the Moscow State Academic Chamber Music Theatre under the direction of B. Pokrovsky, wh ere he performed the following roles:
- Gritsko in M. P. Mussorgsky’s The Fair at Sorochyntsi (for four years, he was the sole performer of this role; the production won a «Golden Mask» award);
- Luigi in G. Puccini’s Il tabarro;
- Don Ottavio in W. A. Mozart’s Don Giovanni;
- Ferrando in W. A. Mozart’s Così fan tutte;
- Sesto in G. F. Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (the production won a «Golden Mask» award);
- Lucentio in V. Y. Shebalin’s The Taming of the Shrew.
As a member of the theatre troupe, he toured extensively abroad, including performances in Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Japan.
Alexander Zakharov collaborates regularly with Russia’s leading orchestras and participates in concert performances of rarely staged operas.
His repertoire includes:
- Charles VII in P. I. Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans;
- Bayan in M. I. Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila;
- Kashchey in N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Kashchey the Deathless;
- Benediktov in A. N. Nikolaev’s The Last Days;
- The Devil in N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, and others.
He has also performed tenor parts in symphonic works by L. van Beethoven, B. Britten, and G. Verdi.
He is the only contemporary performer of the role of Alyosha Popovich in A. Grechaninov’s opera Dobrynya Nikitich, which has been staged in Moscow only twice: in 2003 with the N. P. Osipov National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments under the baton of People’s Artist of Russia Nikolai Kalinin, and in 2005 under the baton of People’s Artist of Russia Vladimir Ponkin.
Since 2006, he has performed in concerts under the auspices of the Composers’ Union of Russia and the «New Peredvizhniki» Academy in Moscow and other Russian cities.
Since 2004, he has been a soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia, wh ere he has performed over 20 roles, including:
- The Simpleton and the Scrivener (Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina by M. P. Mussorgsky);
- The Shabby Peasant (Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by D. D. Shostakovich);
- Platon Karataev (War and Peace by S. S. Prokofiev);
- Guidon (The Golden Cockerel by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov), and others.
He has toured with the Bolshoi Theatre company to the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden) in London, participated in the Savonlinna Opera Festival (Finland), the 55th Ljubljana Summer Festival (Slovenia), as well as the theatre’s tours to Latvia and Greece.
For many years, he was a member of the «Tenors of the XXI Century» art project.
From 2011 to 2020, Alexander Zakharov was a vocal soloist with the N. P. Osipov National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments (Moscow) under the direction of People’s Artist of Russia Vladimir Andropov, with whom he toured extensively across Russia and abroad.
Currently, the artist performs solo concerts accompanied by the country’s leading folk and symphony orchestras. In 2011, he released the album «My Motherland», featuring a collection of Russian folk songs performed by Alexander Zakharov.
In 2021, he was invited to the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music as a lecturer in classical vocal performance at the Department of Solo Singing No. 2, headed by People’s Artist of Russia A. A. Naumenko.
In 2006, the singer was awarded the title of «Honored Artist of the Republic of Ingushetia».
In November 2007, he received the «National Treasure of Russia» award.
In 2013, Alexander Zakharov was awarded the Moscow City Prize in Literature and Art for his promotion of classical music, popularization of opera among the younger generation, and the creation of numerous new concert programs.
In 2019, he was awarded the title of «Honored Artist of the Russian Federation».
