Born in St. Petersburg (Russia) Alexander (Sasha) Mitenev began playing music at the age of nine. Before his 16th birthday, Alexander had already made a lot of appearances in Russia and obtained Dmitry Likhachev Scholarship.In 1997, he was accepted to State Academy of Art in St. Petersburg as a student of Professor Nikolay Kravtsov, famous musician, teacher and the inventor of a unique accordion layout which wipes off the distinction between keys and buttons.