In 1984, he was invited to join the prestigious Kirov Opera Company, and he has since then been one of their leading basses.

He has taken part to numerous tours of the Kirov-Mariinsky Company, in Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, Britain (Edinburgh Festival 1991) and the USA (including Metropolitan Opera, 1992).

His vast repertoire covers not only Russian music, with roles such as Boris and Rangoni in Boris Godunov, Dosifei and Khovansky in Khovanshchina, Gremin in EvgenyOnegin, King René in Iolanta, the title role in Aleko, and the Baron in Covetous Knight, Kutuzov in War and Peace, Konchak and Galitzky in Prince Igor, Susanin in A life for the Tzar, Ruslan and Farlaaf in Ruslan and Ludmilla, Sobakin in the Tzar's Bride, and Ivan the Terrible in The maid of Pskov, but also a great number of roles in the French (Mephistophèles in Faust, the bass roles in The tales of Hoffman), Italian (King Philip in Don Carlo, Fiesco in Boccanegra, Procida in Sicilian Vespers, Ramfis in Aida, Basilio in the Barber of Seville) and German (Sarastro in the Magic Flute, Don Giovanni, King in Löhengrin) repertoires.

Engagements in the West have included Boris Godunov in Frankfurt and at the Salzburg Easter Festival, The Covetous Knight in Dresden, Prince Igor in Vienna, Tchaikovsky's Sorceress at the Concertgebouw and Berlioz's Damnation of Faust in Rome with the Academy and Chorus of Santa Cecilia and Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

An accomplished concert artist, Mr Aleksashkin has sung, amongst others, Songs and Dances of Death in Amsterdam, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 at the Concertgebouw under Maestro Sinaïsky as well as in Tokyo, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14 at the Vienna Konzerthaus under Maestro Inbal.

Mr Aleksashkin has taken part in numerous recordings with the Kirov Opera Company under Maestro Gergiev, including the Fiery Angel and Sadko, both on Philips. He has also recorded several Shostakovich Song Cycles for the BBC, with Larissa Gergieva.

Other past engagements include performances of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 with Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as performances with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Accademia di Santa Cecilia with Maestro Temirkanov.

In 1998/99, Mr. Aleksashkin made his UK debut with the BBC Philharmonic performing Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death conducted by Sir Georg Solti. He also performed Shostakovich's Symphony No. 14 conducted by Mikhail Pletnev at the Ferrara Musica. Other engagements included Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 13 and 14 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rostropovich, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 13 at the Proms and Pimen in the new production of Boris Godunov at the Washington Opera.

In 1999/2000, he appeared with the NHK Symphony in Japan in concerts of the Songs and Dances of Death, concerts of Shostakovich Symphony No. 14 with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and as Dosifei in Khovanshchina, Kutusov in War and Peace and Kotchubej in Mazeppa with the Kirov at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden conducted by Valery Gergiev.

He has performed The Gambler at the MET б Kotuzov in War and Peace at the Teatro Real Madrid, Pimen in Boris Godunov at Opera de Lyon, King Rene in Iolantaat the Netherlands Opera and at the ChateletThéâtre Paris, concerts of Verdi Requiem with BBC Manchester and Songs and Dances of Death with the Ulster Orchestra. He has also recently sung extracts from Boris Godunov at the Groningen Festival, Songs and Dances of death with the NDR Hamburg, Mendoza in Betrothal in a monastery with Vladimir Yurosky at the Glyndebourne Festival and Shostakovich Symphony No.14 with the Berlin SO, Danish Radio SO conducted by Juri Temirkanov and also with the Icelandic SO.

Recent engagements have included Shostakovich’s The Gamblers with the LPO at the Royal Festival Hall conducted by Vladimir Yurosky, Shostakovich Symphony No.14 at the Centro Cultural Miguel Delibes in Valladolid, Spain and Shostakovich Symphony No.143 with NPS VARA Radio.

Future engagements include Shostakovich Symphony No. 13 with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, concerts of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death for the Fundacio "La Caixa" in Barcelona and Madrid as well as his ongoing collaboration with the Mariinsky Theatre.