Irina Zahharenkova is currently living in Finland and has received her Master’s degree from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre where she studied with Lilian Semper ja Maris Valk-Falk. She continued her studies at Sibelius Academy as the student of Hui-Ying Liu-Tawaststjerna.

Zahharenkova has won first prizes from major international piano competitions as the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in 2006, Alessandro Casagrande International Piano Competition 2006, International Competition George Enescu 2005, and Jaén International Piano Contest 2004. In 2008 she became prize-winner in Artur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Her repertoire encompasses a wide range of musical styles from baroque to contemporary. Performing frequently in solo piano and harpsichord recitals in Europe and Asia, she has performed in festivals such as Klavier-Festival Ruhr and Mendelssohn Festival in Germany, Serate Musicali di Milano and Accademia Chigiana Festival in Italy. As soloist she has appeared with BBC Ulster Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Israel Philarmonic Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga and Symphony Orchestra of North Carolina.

As an active chamber musician Irina Zahharenkova has played among others with Elina Vähälä, Arto Noras, Klaus Mäkelä,Sergey Malov, Daniel Müller-Schott, Vladimir Mendelssohn and Ivan Monghetti. Apart from concert activities Irina Zahharenkova is working as a part-time piano teacher in Sibelius Academy and in Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.