Zakaria Enikeev - Principal Viola

Zakaria Enikeev is a finalist and top prize winner of international music competitions in his native Russia and the United States. He was granted the prestigious Stipend of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Rostov Governor's Award for the Achievements in Art and Culture. Zakaria Enikeev. 

Zakaria graduated from the Rachmaninoff Conservatory in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. On receiving full scholarship from the Juilliard School, he moved to the U.S. He was principal violist of the Juilliard Orchestra on many occasions, and performed in the Juilliard School's Centennial Gala Concert broadcast nationally on PBS. His performances have also been featured in international radio broadcasts on Voice of America, Washington, D.C.

As a soloist, chamber musician and recitalist, Zakaria Enikeev has performed in the most prestigious concert halls of New York City, including Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, Bargemusic and Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall.

Zakaria received his Bachelor of Music at Juilliard and his Master's Degree at Manhattan School of Music. He studied viola with Samuel Rhodes and Karen Dreyfus; chamber music with Charles Neidich, and members of the Juilliard String Quartet and the Emerson String Quartet.

Zakaria Enikeev has been Assistant Principal Viola of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra since 2011. He served as Acting Principal Viola of the Alabama Symphony from 2018 to 2022, and performed as Principal Viola for the orchestra’s acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in 2012.

When he isn't performing with the ASO, Zakaria is active as a studio musician in Nashville and New York. Mr. Enikeev is on the faculty at the Birmingham-Southern College.