Leonid Mykhailovych Dzhurmiy (* 31 January 1941, Zhytomyr, Ukrainian SSR, USSR - † 2001, Kharkiv, Ukraine) was a Ukrainian clarinetist and conductor. Honoured Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1983).
Biography.
He was born on 31 January 1941 in Zhytomyr.
After graduating from a seven-year school, he entered the Zhytomyr Vocational School, then passed the exams to the Zhytomyr Music College named after Viktor Kosenko, where he studied clarinet in the class of the famous teacher, military conductor Yosyp Drevetskyi, and then in the class of Ivan Mostovyi, who had great influence and authority among colleagues and students of the music school. Over the years of his teaching career, he trained and released many famous musicians into the world of music.
In 1959, he entered the Odesa Conservatory. He studied in the class of K.E. Mulberg's class. In his 4th year of studying at the Conservatory, he auditioned for the All-Union Wind Instrument Competition, and the chief conductor of the Kharkiv Opera House, Yevhen Dushchenko, came to Odesa from Kharkiv to listen to the brass players. After the audition, he offered Leonid Dzhurmiy a job in the Kharkiv Opera Symphony Orchestra. He worked in Kharkiv during his fifth year at the conservatoire. In 1963, the Kharkiv period of his creative life began.
People's Artist of Ukraine, Professor Yevhen Dushchenko later recalled Leonid Dzhurmiy: "I recognised his personality at first sight. But when I heard the young performer playing, I thought that he would make a great contribution to the Kharkiv Opera House when I offered him a job in the orchestra. And as time has shown, I was not mistaken.
In his book, Professor Mühlberg gives an objective description of his students. He writes about Leonid Dzhurmiy: "Leonid Dzhurmiy approached his lessons in a meaningful way, played thoughtfully and cultivated a soft, thick sound. His technique was distinguished by its nobility and content. He attracted the listener with the sound and timbre dignity of the clarinet. He deliberately restrained the freedom of passages. He especially excelled in the timbre of the clarinet sound when performing Mozart's Concerto in A-Dur." Further: "His conducting lessons were very successful. He was engaged in conducting in the class of Associate Professor Vira Petrivna Bazylevych. In a newspaper interview, when asked how he became a conductor, he said: "An opportunity helped me become a conductor. A ballet performance was cancelled and there was no conductor. The theatre knew that I wanted to become a conductor, so I took an optional class at the conservatoire. My first attempt was quite successful, at least I didn't let the ballet down. It's not for nothing that they say that necessity comes to us in the clothes of chance. If it hadn't been for this incident, there would probably have been other attempts. But I would still have become a conductor, I am convinced of that."
During his years of work in the Kharkiv Opera House Symphony Orchestra as a soloist and conductor, Leonid Dzhurmiy had the opportunity to touch the world's gems of musical heritage. He had the opportunity to perform and conduct works of foreign classical music: Bizet, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich, A. Petrov, and Ukrainian contemporaries V. Zolotukhin, V. Hubarenko, I. Kovach, G. Tsitsalyuk and many others. As a result of his creative collaboration, many composers became his friends until the end of his days. Leonid Dzhurmiy had the opportunity to work with prominent masters of choreography - N. Dudinska and K. Sergeev, M. Liepa and G. Mayorov, conducted performances with N. Semizorova, N. Pavlova, V. Gordeev, M. Lavrovsky, and prominent opera singers E. Miroshnichenko and A. Solovyanenko. Among his creative achievements are D. Shostakovich's The Young Lady and the Hooligan, F. Amirov's A Thousand and One Nights, Y. Saulsky's The Senora of Valencia, E. Aristakesyan's Prometheus, and A. Petrov's The Creation of the World. by A. Petrov. Leonid Dzhurmiy's attitude to work was uncompromising: he did not know how to work half-heartedly. He was very dedicated to musical creativity and hardworking. He was on tour in Germany with the orchestra many times.
Awards and titles
Leonid Dzhurmiy was awarded an honorary title for his creative achievements in the field of music performance: Honoured Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1983).
