Mr. Alexander Volchonok was born in Russia. His music education started at the age of 4. At 6 he began studying piano at the Music school and graduated in 1966. Same year he entered Music College by Rimsky-Korsakov in St.Petersburg and majored in clarinet performance. In 1972 Alexander was accepted at the St.Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory and graduated in 1977 with honors. During studying at the College and the Conservatory Alexander gained experience as an orchestra and chamber musician at the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater, Chamber Orchestra of Ancient and Modern Music, Composers House Woodwind Quintet and many other ensembles. Upon graduating from Conservatory in 1977 he continued very active career as Principal clarinetist in the St.Petersburg Chamber Orchestra combining it with performances in the woodwind quintet.
In 1978 Mr.Volchonok took interest in tuning and repairs of pianoforte and became an apprentice to a concert piano tuner at the St.Petersburg Philharmonic.
The year of 1979 is marked by emigration to the United States.
Same year Mr. Volchonok was hired by Piano Exchange Shop in Long Island, NY, where continued his apprenticeship.
In 1981 he moved to San Francisco and acquired job at Kawai Piano Dealership. The same year Alexander became Chief Technician at the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Companies where he prepared pianos for such notable musicians as Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo and many others.
In 1983 Mr. Volchonok became Chief Technician at Yamaha Pianos in San Jose, Ca. Among his commercial accounts were 21 churches, San Jose School District, recording and teaching
studios, concert halls of San Jose, San Francisco and Santa Clara, Saratoga College.
In 1998 Mr. Volchonok was invited to care for the pianos at the Summit Music Festival in Terrytown, NY, where he met famous pianist Oxana Yablonskaya and shortly after they were married.
Mr. Volchonok entered a new stage of his professional career — he became personal technician for Oxana Yablonskaya on many concert tours and giving lectures at the same time on history, regulating and concert preparation of pianos all over the world — USA, Taiwan, France, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Oxford, England, Russia, China, Israel. He had the fortune to work in such halls as Carnegie, National Taiwan Concert Hall, Paris Magador Theatre, Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome, Shanghai Conservatory and many others, besides tuning for Music Festivals in Switzerland, France, Spain, China, USA, Italy, Azerbaijan, Israel, Taiwan, etc...
From 2006 to 2008 Mr. Volchonok has held a position of Technical Director US Operations for Seiler Piano Company and presented the company at NAMM shows in Anaheim, California.
Throughout more than 35 years of working with pianos Mr. Volchonok serviced pianos for Bella Davidovich, Steven Kovasevic, Brigitte Engerer, Boris Berezovsky, Peter Frankl, Idil Biret, Alexey Lyubimov, Alexander Melnikov and many other prominent pianists, composers, actors such as Robin Williams.
At the Shanghai Piano Festival 2013 he had an opportunity to prepare the piano for Mr. Lang Lang and received favorable reply from the pianist.
He trained many young piano tuners for a new Piano Factory in Azerbaijan from 2008 to 2011 while being the Technical Director of the factory and gave Master Classes on tuning and piano and tone regulating in Shanghai and Xiamen Conservatories.
In 2007 edition of the Best of New York Magazine Mr. Volchonok was featured as the best in his field of expertise.