Vladimir Markovich Kozhukhar (Kozhukhar, Vladimir) |

Kozhukhar, Vladimir

Soviet Ukrainian conductor, People’s Artist of Russia (1985) and Ukraine (1993). In 1960, the people of Kiev met the young conductor Vladimir Kozhukhar. He stood at the podium of the State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in order to conduct Gershwin’s Rhapsody in the blues style in one of the summer concerts. The excitement of the debuting artist was very great, and he forgot … to open the score that lay in front of him. However, Kozhukhar prepared so carefully for his first performance that he was able to conduct this rather complicated work by heart.

As Kozhukhar himself says, he became a conductor by accident. In 1958, after graduating from the N. V. Lysenko Music School, he entered the orchestra department of the Kyiv Conservatory in the trumpet class. He fell in love with this instrument as a child, when Volodya played the trumpet in the amateur orchestra of his native village of Leonovka. And now he decided to become a professional trumpeter. The wide musical abilities of the student attracted the attention of the teacher of many Ukrainian conductors, Professor M. Kanerstein. Under his leadership, Kozhukhar mastered the new specialty persistently and enthusiastically. He was generally lucky with the teachers. In 1963, he attended a seminar with I. Markevich in Moscow and earned a flattering assessment from the demanding maestro. Finally, in the graduate school of the Moscow Conservatory (1963-1965), G. Rozhdestvensky was his mentor.

Young conductors are now working in many Ukrainian cities. The capital of the republic is not an exception in this regard, although the leading musical groups are concentrated here. Becoming the second conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 1965, Kozhukhar has been leading this well-known ensemble since January 1967. Over the past time, many concerts have been held under his management in Kyiv and other cities. More than a hundred works made up their programs. Constantly referring to the musical classics, to the best examples of contemporary composers, Kozhukhar systematically acquaints listeners with Ukrainian music. On the posters of his concerts one can often see the names of L. Revutsky, B. Lyatoshinsky, G. Maiboroda, G. Taranov and other Ukrainian authors. Many of their compositions were performed under the baton of Vladimir Kozhukhar for the first time.

L. Grigoriev, J. Platek, 1969