Volodymyr Markovych Kozhukhar (16 March 1941, Vinnytsia - 3 December 2022, Kyiv) was a Soviet and Ukrainian conductor and music educator. People's Artist of the RSFSR (1985) and Ukraine (1993).
He graduated from the Mykola Lysenko Secondary Music School in Kyiv, majoring in trumpet, and from the Tchaikovsky Kyiv State Conservatory (1963, class of V. Yablonsky) and opera and symphony conducting (M. Kanerstein), and completed postgraduate studies (1966, class of H. Rozhdestvensky) at the Moscow Conservatory.
From 1964 he was a conductor, and from 1967 he was the chief conductor of the State Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine.
In 1973-1977, he worked as a conductor of the Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theatre, and then, until 1988, he was the chief conductor of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre in Moscow.
In 1978-1988, he taught at the Gnesin Music and Pedagogical Institute in Moscow. Since 1993, he has been a professor at the Kyiv Conservatory.
In 1989-2012, he was the chief conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine, where he staged Taras Bulba by Mykola Lysenko, The Golden Hoop by Borys Liatoshynskyi, Mazepa, The Queen of Spades, Iolanta by Tchaikovsky, Aleko by Rachmaninoff, and Aïchy by Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff, Aida, Nabucco, Macbeth, La bohème masquerade by G. Verdi, Turandot by G. Puccini, Lohengrin by R. Wagner, Gioconda by A. Ponchielli, La bohème de l'amore by G. Donizetti, Romeo and Juliet, Faust by S. Gounod, Carmen by J. Bizet. Bizet, Rossini's Cinderella, Prokofiev's The Love of Three Oranges, Shostakovich's Katerina Izmailova, ballets Sleeping Beauty, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Suite in White by E. Lalo. Lalo, The Fairy's Kiss, Petrushka, The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky, Symphonie fantastique by Gabriel Berlioz, Vikings by Yevhen Stankovych, Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky and others.
Creative work
As a conductor, he took part in the staging of Massenet's Manon (1973), Borodin's Prince Igor (1975, 1991), Gounod's Faust (1976), Lyatoshynsky's The Golden Hoop (1990), Tchaikovsky's Mazepa (1990), and Tchaikovsky's The Magician (1990) at the National Opera of Ukraine. Tchaikovsky (1990), Taras Bulba by M. Lysenko (1992), Nabucco by G. Verdi (1992), Lohengrin by R. Wagner (1994), The Queen of Spades by P. Tchaikovsky (1996), Aida by G. Verdi (1997), Romeo and Juliet by S. Gounod (2000). Gounod (2000), "The Love of Three Oranges" by S. Prokofiev (2000), "Carmen" by J. Bizet (2002), etc.; ballets "Cinderella" by S. Prokofiev (1989), "The Night Before Christmas" by Y. Stankovich (1993), "Vladimir the Baptist", "Frescoes of Sophia of Kyiv" (to the music of V. Kikta, 1995). V. Kikta, 1995), Symphonie fantastique (to music by G. Berlioz, 1996), Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker (1997, Canada), The Firebird (2000), Parsley (2002), The Sacred Spring (2003) by I. Stravinsky, A. Adan's Corsair (2002), Y. Shevchenko's Chasing Two Hares (2017), vocal and choreographic works Alexander Nevsky by Sergei Prokofiev (1992), Requiem by Giovanni Verdi (1992), and Bells by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1993). Together with the theatre orchestra, he prepared a series of symphony concerts based on works by P. Tchaikovsky - First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth Symphonies; D. Shostakovich - First Symphony, First Violin Concerto, vocal and symphonic poem "The Execution of Stepan Razin". He conducted performances of D. Shostakovich's Katerina Izmailova (in particular, within the framework of M. Rostropovich's project in Naples), Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty by P. Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella by S. Prokofiev during the Kyiv company's tours to Japan, Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark, Poland, Canada, Spain, Italy, Lebanon and other countries. Under the direction of V. Kozhukhar, the National Opera of Ukraine toured in Paris (1992), performed at the 55th International Music Festival in Strasbourg (1993).
State awards
People's Artist of the RSFSR (1985)
People's Artist of Ukraine (19 August 1993) - for his personal contribution to the enrichment of Ukrainian national culture, high professional skills
Order of Merit III class (23 March 2001) - for a significant personal contribution to the development of national culture and art, high professionalism
Order of Merit II class (18 August 2006) - for significant personal contribution to the socio-economic and cultural development of the Ukrainian state, significant labour achievements and on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Ukraine's independence
Order of Merit I class (26 March 2016) - for a significant personal contribution to the development of national culture and theatre art, significant creative achievements, high professional skills and on the occasion of the International Day of Theatre
