Born in Rīga, Latvia in 1988 Ksenija Sidorova was encouraged to take up the accordion by her grandmother, who has roots in the folk tradition of accordion playing. She started to play the instrument aged eight, under the guidance of Marija Gasele. Wanting more exposure to both classical and contemporary repertoire and also more concert opportunities, her studies took her to London where she was a prize-winning undergraduate and subsequently received Masters Degree with Distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, where she studied with professor Owen Murray. Outside the RAM her awards included a Philharmonia Orchestra Martin Musical Scholarship Fund Award and Philharmonia Orchestra Friends Award. 　　In February 2009 Sidorova was a joint winner of Friends of the Royal Academy of Music Wigmore Award, which led to her Wigmore Hall debut on May 18, 2009. The same year she was also made a Recommended Artist under Making Music's Philip & Dorothy Green Award scheme. She was also selected to appear in Park Lane Group Young Artists New Year Series, 2009, and was described by The Times as "one of the real finds of the series". She is also a recipient of the Worshipful Company of Musicians' Silver Medal, Maisie Lewis Award and was the first accordionist to win the prestigious WCoM Prince's Prize. In May 2012 Sidorova became the first International Award winner of the Bryn Terfel Foundation.