Olekhsandr Ahafonov

Oleksandr was born in 2002 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and started playing the violin at the age of five. In 2019, he graduated from the Kharkiv State Music Lyceum (Ukraine) in Lyudmila Varenina's class. During his education, he won several prizes at national and international competitions and frequently participated in music festivals in Ukraine.

From October 2019 to September 2023, he studied at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf in Prof. Andrej Bielow's class. In October 2022, he was a semi-finalist in the 10th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists, where he received a special prize.

He has participated in masterclasses with Veit Hertenstein, Garth Knox, Tabea Zimmermann (Kronberg Academy), Leonidas Kavakos, and other renowned musicians.

Oleksandr has been a scholarship recipient from the Oscar und Vera Ritter-Stiftung, the VERE Music Fund, the DAAD scholarship, and the Deutschlandstipendium.

In March 2023, he fully devoted himself to the viola. Since then, he has participated in numerous projects of the LEAD! Foundation Finland, as well as the Grafenegg Academy 2025 and the Talent Summer Courses 2023 and 2024 in Brescia, where he studied with Prof. Alexander Zemtsov-Gordon. At the Talent Summer Courses, he won the competition allowing him to perform as a soloist with an orchestra.

In May 2025, he was a semi-finalist in the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition. In November 2025, he won second prize at the Tenerife International Viola Competition.

Oleksandr is also a substitute violist with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (OCL).

Since September 2023, Oleksandr has been studying viola at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne in the class of Prof. Alexander Zemtsov-Gordon.