Yurii Karpovych Rakul (25 July 1948 - 5 March 2019) was a Ukrainian musician and music educator, professor, vice-president of the South Ukrainian Association of Pianists and Teachers, Honoured Artist of Ukraine.
Biography
He was born on 25 July 1948 in Odesa.
In 1971, he graduated from the A. Nezhdanova Odesa State Conservatory and in 1975 completed an assistantship at the Rimsky-Korsakov St Petersburg State Conservatory. Since 1975, he has been teaching at the Odesa Music Conservatory (now the Academy) at the Department of Special Piano No. 1.
In 2006, he was awarded the academic title of professor.
Since 1985, he has been Vice-Rector for Creative Work at the A. Nezhdanova Odesa State Music Academy. He paid much attention to the development of international creative contacts of the Academy and Odesa musicians with foreign colleagues. Close creative ties unite the Odesa Music Academy with higher music institutions in Freiburg, Aachen, Cologne (Germany), Oulu and Kuopio (Finland), Tianjin and Wuhan (China).
Creative activity
More than 80 pianists have graduated from Yurii Rakul's class and are now working in educational institutions and concert organisations in Ukraine and abroad. Among them are laureates of international competitions and candidates of sciences.
Yurii Rakul actively participates in the study of theoretical problems of modern music pedagogy and performance. Among his scientific and methodological works are two pedagogical studies (10 p.a.), 11 scientific and methodological works and articles published in Ukraine, Germany and Finland. He has participated in many international theoretical conferences.
Since 1979, Yurii Rakul has been teaching a special course "Methods of teaching piano" at the Odesa Music Academy. Since 1982 (more than ten years), he has been teaching a course in methods at the Pedagogical College at the Odesa Regional Department of Culture. He has held masterclasses and lectured in Germany, Finland, Spain, Austria and China.
He has repeatedly served as Chairman of the State Examination Commission at the National Music Academy of Moldova and music schools in Ukraine.
He combines his pedagogical and scientific work with concert and performance activities. He has repeatedly performed solo concerts in Ukraine, Lithuania, Moldova, Germany, Finland, Spain, Austria and China (8 concert programmes), as well as chamber programmes with People's Artist of Ukraine M. Ohrenych, People's Artist of Ukraine V. Navrotskyi, Finnish pianist and harpsichordist P. Vapaavuori, German pianist J. Avery, etc. He has recordings on radio and television. For more than 15 years, he worked with the Odesa Regional Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.
He died on 5 March 2019 and was buried at the First Christian Cemetery in Odesa.
Scientific activity
Rakul Y. Methodical recommendations on the organisation and conduct of the State Examination "Pedagogical Mastery" in the speciality "Piano" in higher musical educational institutions of Ukraine / Y. Rakul - Kyiv: RMC, 1997. 32 p.
Rakul Y. About the phonic features of Chopin's style in connection with the instrumentation. Frédéric Chopin / Y. Rakul // Scientific Bulletin of the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine. Kyiv: Spolom, 2000. 134-150.
Rakul Y. Some features of the use of piano pedals in the works of contemporary composers / Y. Rakul // Musical art and culture. Scientific Bulletin of the A. V. Nezhdanova Odesa State Music Academy: Druk, 2004. - P. 207-217.
The art of pedalling as one of the main means of expressiveness of piano performance. Study guide / Y. Rakul - Odesa: Photosynthetics, 2007-159 p.
