Principal cellist of the Staatskapelle Berlin, Alexander Kovalev is also an avid chamber musician. Throughout his career Alexander played in some of the most prestigious festivals such as Euregio Music Festival, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Yellow Barn Festival, Tsinandali Festival, Krzyzowa-Music, and Verbier Festival Academy where he received the Neva Foundation Prize. He collaborated with renowned musicians including Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Roger Tapping, Nils Mönkemeyer, Fazil Say, Mihaela Martin, Elena Bashkirova, and Natasha Brofsky. Through invitation of Maestro Barenboim, Alexander Kovalev has also become a member of the distinguished Boulez Ensemble and he had the opportunity to work with numerous artists such as Lahav Shani, Mathias Pintscher, Jörg Widmann, and Pablo Heras-Casado.

Alexander was born into a family of musicians in Moscow, Russia, in 1992. He began his musical studies at the esteemed Central Music School in Moscow. Following his graduation at Robert Schumann Hochschule Düsseldorf and Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin he's currently receiving his Master’s Degree at Universität der Künste Berlin with Prof. Jens Peter Maintz.