Kharkiv Philharmonic Society
It has seen performances by Henryk Wieniawski, Pablo Sarasate, Mattia Battistini, Titta Ruffo, Feodor Chaliapin, Piotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Scriabin, Aram Khachaturian, Mstislav Rostropovich, Dmitri Shostakovich, Krzysztof Penderecki and many other outstanding composers and musicians.
The first decade of the orchestra's existence was marked by music directors like Paul Kletzki (1937–38), collaborations with famous conductors Kurt Sanderling and Guido Adler, Fritz Stiedry, and Eugen Szenkar (Hungary).
[citation needed] Throughout the orchestra's history, well-known musicians have performed with it, including Anton Rubinstein, Henrih Neigauz, Sviatoslav Richter, Emil Gilels, Aram Khachaturian, Mstislav Rostropovich, Rudolf Kehrer, Vladimir Krainev, Dmitri Shostakovich, Vakhtang Jordania, Mikhail Pletnev, Vladimir Spivakov, Dimitri Bashkirov, Daniel Kramer, Sergey Stadler, Alexander Kniazev, Alain Daboncourt, James Oliverio, Sayaka Shoji, Ernest Hoetzl, Anton Sorokow, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Krzysztof Penderecki and many others.
[citation needed] At the present time the first violinist of the orchestra is Igor Shapovalov, who has the title of People's Artist of Ukraine.
[7][citation needed] In 2001 Yuriy Yanko, holder of the title "Honoured Worker of the Arts of Ukraine", and a prize-winner in The International Vakhtang Jordania Conducting Competition, was appointed music director and principal conductor of the Kharkiv Philharmonic Orchestra.
He then attended Kharkiv University of Arts (1985) and Kyiv National Conservatory (1991), studying operatic & symphonic conducting with Turchak, Dushchenko, Vakhtang Jordania.
He has conducted in many countries: Austria, the Netherlands, Egypt, Spain, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Russia, the United States, France, and Switzerland.
In 1980 the choir toured Kyiv and other cities of Ukraine, Moscow (Russia), Moldova, Latvia, Georgia, South Ossetia, Germany, and the United States, being appreciated by music community everywhere.
In 2011 the Academic Choir won Grand Prix at the International Festival "Hajnowskie Dni Muzyki Cerkiewnej" in Hajnówka, Poland.
