Volodymyr Symonenko (b. 28 July 1940, Kirovohrad - d. 2 June 1998, Kyiv) was a Ukrainian jazz pianist, musicologist, musician and public figure, Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine (1995).
Life and work
He received his musical education at the Mykola Lysenko Kyiv Special School for Ten Years.
From 1957 to 1962, he worked as a pianist, arranger, director of pop, dance and jazz ensembles and orchestras, including the pianist of the pop orchestra of the House of Culture of the Kyiv Tram and Trolleybus Administration "Melody" p/k Ilya Gass (1957-1958), director of the variety orchestras of the House of Culture "Kharchovyk" (1958), the club of the Kyiv Motorcycle Plant (1959-1960), pianist of the Variety and Youth Ensemble of the Central House of Arts Workers of the USSR under the direction of Kostiantyn Khodos (1960-1962), director of the trio of the Kyiv State Pedagogical Institute named after Maksym Horkyi (1961-1962). Maksym Gorky State Pedagogical Institute (1961-1962).
Since 1960, he has been giving lectures on jazz.
In 1962, he founded the first jazz club in Ukraine and organised jazz concerts. Member of the board of the youth cafe-club "Mriia" (1962-1964).
In the late 1960s, he studied at the Faculty of Philology at Taras Shevchenko State University of Kyiv, graduating in 1971.
Since 1966, he has been working in the jury of all-Union and republican festivals and jazz competitions: in Kyiv - 1966, 1987, 1995; Dnipro - 1968, 1981, 1982; Donetsk - 1971, 1973, 1981; Kaunas - 1975; Odesa - 1983; Rivne and Luhansk - 1989.
From 1967 to 1969 - musical director of the Federation of Youth Clubs (FMK-67).
From 1967 to 1977 - music editor, deputy editor-in-chief of the publishing house "Musical Ukraine".
From 1968 to 1973 - editor-compiler of the collection of popular pop songs "Musical Orbit" (33 issues). Author of the first book about jazz in Ukraine - "Melodies of Jazz" (1970). Editor of the magazine "Estrada-72".
In 1977-1987 - Deputy Director of the Ukrainian branch of the USSR Music Fund. Since 1987 - Director of the Ukrainian Republican Branch of the Centre for Musical Information and Propaganda of Soviet Music of the USSR Composers' Union (since 1990 - the Centre for Musical Information of the Ukrainian Composers' Union).
In 1978-1979, he hosted a series of programmes on the Ukrainian Radio called "The Alphabet of Jazz", and took part in the first programme about jazz on Ukrainian television (1982).
In 1980, with the assistance of A. Bondarenko, he organised the Department of Variety and Jazz Performance at the R. M. Glier Kyiv State Music School, where he worked until 1983 as the head of the department and a teacher of the course of jazz history.
Since 1980 - Chairman and jury member of the Artistic Council for Theatre and Music of the Ministry of Culture of the Ukrainian SSR (section of music and variety art).
Since 1986 - Chairman of the Central Organising Committee of the international, all-Union and republican music festivals in Ukraine "Holosiyevo". Member of the Central Council of the Soviet Jazz Federation (since 1988).
In 1990, he headed the directorate of the International Music Festivals of the Union of Composers of Ukraine (Kyiv Music Fest, International Forum of Young Music, Music Premieres of the Season).
Since 1995 he has been the President of the Jazz Association of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Symonenko is the author of numerous articles, reviews, and annotations to gramophone records. He has participated in conferences and seminars, developed programmes and curricula, and edited publications. Member of the editorial board of the reference book "Music Register of Ukraine. 1997-1998". Author of articles on jazz for the Ukrainian Music Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine.
He is an honorary member of jazz clubs in Olomouc (Czech Republic, since 1959), Bratislava (Slovakia, since 1963) and Dnipro (since 1968). S.'s biography is included in the 26th edition of the Dictionary Of International Biography (1997) of the Cambridge International Biography Centre (UK). He was awarded the jubilee medal on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Wieniawski Lublin State Philharmonic (Poland, 1996). Laureate of the International Prize "Friendship" (1995).
Compositions
Jazz u SSSR // Ritam. Novi Sad, Jugoslavija, 1963. No. 30; 1964, No. 31, 32; Leningrad Dixieland // Music. 1970. № 6;
Melodies of Jazz. K., 1970, 1972, 1976, 1984; Sofia, 1980, 1982;
About Soviet jazz // Music. 1973. № 3;
Horvat I., Wasserberger I. Fundamentals of jazz interpretation / Special edition, preface and dictionary. К., 1980;
Lexicon of jazz. К., 1981;
From Bambula to Ragtime // Jazz and Piano Music of the First Half of the Twentieth Century / Compiled by. N. S. Zamoroko, V. S. Simonenko. В.1. К., 1987;
Dream, do not betray... // Young Guard. 1988. 10 February;
Jazz "conquers" Europe // Jazz and piano music of the first half of the twentieth century / comp. N.S. Zamoroko, V.S. Simonenko. В.2. К., 1989.
Ukrainian Encyclopaedia of Jazz. - K.: Tsentrmuzinform, 2004. - 232 p. (download) [Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine].
