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Biography
Yuri Djachenko was born in Brisbane in 1969 to a
British-Estonian descended mother and a German-Ukrainian
descended father. At age 6, Yuri began learning piano
and violin, and was fortunate to have some good
teachers. His first piano teacher was John Skippen
(based in Paris since 1977) and later piano studies were
with Betty Vergara-Pink (now retired after many years as
professor of piano at the Freiburg Hochschule). Early
violin studies were with Anne Comiskey (latterly
Associate Professor in Ear Training at Hartford
University, Connecticut) and later with Peter Coombes
(formerly of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and now
in Newcastle, NSW). As an undergraduate student, Yuri
maintained his interest in the violin, but the piano was
replaced with the viola. He studied violin and viola at
Undergraduate and Postgraduate level with Tor Fromyhr,
Lyndal Edmiston and the late Jan Sedivka, and at Masters
level with Spiros Rantos.
Yuri holds undergraduate and post-graduate Diplomas from
the Queensland Conservatorium of Music Griffith
University and a Masters Degree in Violin Performance
from the University of Queensland, where he also
researched English Bowmakers. He continues to consult
privately to individuals, violin dealers, and insurance
companies around the world on matters relating to bows.
A book on English bows and their makers is in
preparation for publication in New York.
During the 1990s, Yuri held violin and viola teaching
appointments in Queensland with the Queensland
Conservatorium of Music as well as at numerous private
schools including Forest Lake College, Somerset College
and Somerville House. He was also employed by the
Queensland Education Department to teach the violin in
schools, and on moving to the UK in 1999, he worked in a
similar capacity for the London Borough of Hillingdon.
While in London, Yuri was employed by two major Music
Publishing companies, Peters Edition and Boosey & Hawkes
in their retail/marketing departments. This experience
proved invaluable in gaining a detailed understanding of
how the music publishing industry works, and
particularly how 19th century traditions coped with and
adapted to the 21st century. Yuri later moved to
Edinburgh and was offered a teaching position based in
St Andrews, Fife (the ancient home of Golf), before transferring south again to
take up the full-time permanent position as Head of
Strings for the Berkshire Young Musicians' Trust in
Windsor.
During a visit to Finland in August 2004 to help
negotiate an ultimately successful publishing agreement
between Géza Szilvay and Fennica Gehrman, Yuri was
invited to be the resident violinist at the Kuhmo Music
Institute during 2004-05. Although his main duties were
teaching the violin/viola and directing student string
and chamber ensembles in one of the world's most famous
chamber music towns, he was also Artistic Director of
the XI Prima Nota International Festival for Children’s
String Orchestras in January 2005. Yuri also
worked as a Music Examiner in the Association of Finnish
Music Schools examination system.
Since returning to Australia in July 2005, Yuri taught
in the pre-tertiary programmes at the Queensland
Conservatorium of Music Griffith University, and at the
University of Southern Queensland before leaving to
concentrate on his own substantial private teaching
practice. His beginner students are becoming known for
their excellence nationally, and in Singapore, Japan,
the UK and Finland. Since 2008, Yuri and his students
have received numerous invitations to give presentations
at tertiary music institutions (Qld & Sydney
Conservatoria, and the Australian National University)
and for professional associations (Australian String
Teachers Association in Brisbane, Canberra and Perth;
the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia in
Melbourne and Sydney, and at the International Kodály
Society’s 2010 Symposium in Brisbane).
As a Director of Colourstrings Australia, Yuri regularly
engages in collaboration with leading Australian
Colourstrings teachers including David Banney, Celia
Egerton, Judy Fromyhr and Helen Holt. Since 1999, he
has made ten visits to East Helsinki to work and observe
Géza and Csaba Szilvay and their team. Yuri is
widely acknowledged by his peers locally and overseas as
one of the foremost second generation Colourstrings
teachers. When Colourstrings founder, Géza Szilvay
visited Australia in 2010, after giving lessons to all
of Yuri’s students he afterwards declared that “Yuri has
NO bad students” and compared their standard with that
of the best teachers in East Helsinki. In 2011,
Yuri was awarded an honorary Colourstrings Teacher
Training Certificate for his services in developing
excellence in Colourstrings Teaching over the past 20
years.
Over the years, a number of Yuri’s former students have
continued their studies at tertiary level at the
following institutions:
· Australia:
Queensland Conservatorium of Music Griffith University,
University of Queensland, University of Southern
Queensland, Australian National University, University
of Tasmania
·
UK: Royal College of Music, Chichester University
·
France: Sorbonne
·
Sweden: Stockholm Conservatory
·
Finland: Oulu University, Sibelius Academy.
A greater number have chosen different academic
disciplines – nearly all continue to play the violin
and/or viola as competent amateurs.
As a professional violinist/violist, Yuri has performed
as a member of the former Queensland Symphony and
Philharmonic Orchestras, and the Canberra Symphony
Orchestra, including their chamber ensemble Strings Etc.
With these groups he has broadcast on ABC-FM and made a
number of recordings. Yuri has also worked throughout
the UK on a freelance basis with many orchestras,
chamber orchestras and ensembles. In Finland, he was
Concertmaster of the Lentua Sinfonietta. More recently,
Yuri has acted as Concertmaster of the Darwin Symphony
Orchestra and played violin and viola in Brisbane’s
Camerata of St Johns. He has played in 16 countries,
including every State and Territory in Australia.
Yuri believes very strongly that instrument teachers
should maintain professional performing activity.
He is married to Scottish violinist Sally-Ann Djachenko,
and they have two young children. |
