About us

Trio Voronezh made its U.S. debut at the 1996 Oregon Bach Festival. Earning critical praise and held in high regard by the crowds, they were the sleeper-hit of the summer. The musicians were immediately invited to return. They followed with concert appearances in Europe, a music video filmed in the USA and performances in the 1997 and 1999 Oregon Bach Festivals. The first U.S. tour of the group, in the fall of 1998, began by bringing down the house at NPR's "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor. The Trio went on to perform at Houston's Society for the Performing Arts; the cities of Ann Arbor, Chicago, Portland, and St. Louis; and the Universities of Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Nebraska, and Los Angeles; as well as Amherst, Dartmouth, New York's Rockefeller University, and Stanford. Topping it off, the Trio Voronezh was signed by the prestigious EMI Angel label, and went into the studio to record their first CD, self-titled, "Trio Voronezh."

The trio made its orchestral debut with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra in a highly successful collaboration with Doc Severinsen. Since then the Trio has performed with major symphony orchestras throughout the U.S., Canada and Russia.

Vladimir Volokhin, Valerie Petrukhin and Sergei Teleshev formed the Trio in 1993. The folk trio named themselves after the working-class city from which they studied and perfected their craft, a city of over a million people, and approximately 350 miles south of Moscow. In 1995, Trio Voronezh sprang onto the international stage after they were discovered playing classical favorites and folk tunes in a Frankfurt, Germany subway station.

Sergei Teleshev won many regional and international accordion competitions and recently became the US V-Accordion Champion by winning 2013 US Roland V-accordion festival. In July 2017 he won in two categories (Solo Open, and Ensemble) at the International Accordion Competition in Victoria, Canada.

Valerie Petrukhin has performed with many famous Russian folk orchestras and ensembles and currently is being an honored member of the Sierra Nevada Balalaika Society.

Vladimir Volokhin went on to win the title of National Champion in the All-Russia Domra Competition in 1986 and 1990.

In addition to five Albums released in the following years, the Trio was featured on a 2007 release of "Peter and the Wolf, along with the London Symphony. It was selected by Dr. Toy, Stevanne Auerbach, as one of 2007's "10 Best." Stevanne Auerbach is one of the nation's and world's leading experts on play, toys, and children's product. The recording was also selected by National Parenting Publication Awards "NAPPA Gold Award."

Trio Voronezh is a musical ensemble that produces incredibly exciting sounds and compelling arrangements of classics across a variety of musical styles, all played upon Russian folk instruments. Trio Voronezh's astonishing virtuosity and delightful artistic innovation give the trio the ability to alter the way audiences experience classical, folk and contemporary repertoire. The diverse repertoire of the Trio includes the works of Vivaldi, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Rachmaninov, as well as Russian folk songs, Argentine tangos, gypsy dance music, bluegrass and popular songs by Gershwin. The ever-expanding concert material is arranged by the members of the Trio, and performed with extraordinary virtuosity and musical lyricism entirely from memory.

The musicians of Trio Voronezh have been playing and performing since they were young children, around the age of six. They continued their classical training and pursued further study at the Conservatory in Voronezh, Russia.