Irina Zahharenkova is one of the most outstanding keyboard performers of her generation to emerge from Estonia.

She has won first prizes from major international piano competitions such as the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition, Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition , International Competition George Enescu, and the Jaén International Piano Contest. In 2008, she was a prize-winner in the Artur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel. Irina has also been a laureate in Prague Spring competition in Czech Republic (2005) – as a harpsichordist and in Festival van Vlaanderen competition in Bruges, Belgium (2004) – as fortepianist. She was a winner of the 2007 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award.

As a concerto soloist she has appeared with BBC Ulster Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, and Sinfonia Finlandia, among others.

Her repertoire encompasses a wide range of musical styles from baroque to contemporary.

Apart from concert activities, Ms. Zahharenkova teaches piano at the famed Sibelius Academy and at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.