Coming from a
Servo family, a group of
Romani people found mostly in Russia and
Ukraine, he started playing a
seven string guitar at an early age while living in the region of
Saratov. Having moved twenty years ago to
Moscow, he played in several groups but worked mostly in the
Romen Theatre, the only Romani theater in existence in the world. Kolpakov also engaged in independent projects, such as playing with the Kolpakov Trio, the first Russian Romani
ensemble to tour
North America in the post-communist period. His nephew, Vadim Kolpakov has mastered the seven-string guitar and has been a member of the Kolpakov Trio since 1994. As a
soloist and
composer, Rodava Tut is Sasha's first record, published by Opre, a Swiss label dedicated to the promotion of
Romani music. His music is typical of what one could listen to while spending an evening at home with Roma. Some of the songs are several hundred years old. He performed at American singer
Madonna’s
Sticky & Sweet Tour. ==References==