Yurii Leonidovych Kerpatenko ( uk, Керпатенко Юрій Леонідович; 9 September 1976 – 28 September 2022) was a Ukrainian conductor, orchestrator, and accordionist who was the principal conductor of the from 2004 until his death in 2022. He was also the principal conductor of the Gileya chamber orchestra of the from 2000 until 2022. Kerpatenko declined to cooperate during the

Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast The Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast is an ongoing military occupation of Ukraine's Kherson Oblast by Russian forces that began on 2March 2022 during the Russian invasion of Ukraine as part of the southern Ukraine campaign. The Russian- ...

and was killed by Russian soldiers in his home in September 2022.

Life

Kerpatenko was born 9 September 1976 in

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

. He graduated in the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

class from State Secondary School No. 1 in 1991 under teacher A.V. Kostrub. Kerpatenko attended the from 1991 until his graduation in 1995 where he studied under V.I. Melnichenko. He graduated from the

Kyiv Conservatory Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine ( uk, Національна музична академія України імені Петра Чайковського) or Kyiv Conservatory is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music e ...

in 2000 where he studied in the department of folk instruments and was part of the accordion class. He was considered a virtuoso player of the Bayan. In 2004, Kerpatenko also graduated with distinction from the department of opera and symphonic conducting under professor V.B. Hnyedash and instrumental science and orchestration under professor

Lev Kolodub Lev Mykolajovych Kolodub (; 1 May 1930 – 23 February 2019), was a Ukrainian composer and teacher, Honored Artist of Ukraine (1973), People's Artist of Ukraine(1993). Recipient of Shevchenko National Prize (2010). Head of Ukrainian ...

. He became the principal conductor of the Kherson Regional Philharmonic's chamber orchestra, "Gilea" in 2000. Since August 2004, he was also the principal conductor of the Mykola Kulish Music and Drama Theatre. During the

, Kerpatenko continued posting defiant messages on Facebook through May 2022.

Death

In September 2022, family members of Kerpatenko outside of Kherson lost contact with him. The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy reported that he had declined to participate in an upcoming October 1 concert hosted by the Russian occupiers. The Russian administration planned to feature Kerpatenko's Gileya chamber orchestra in a concert "intended by the occupiers to demonstrate the so-called 'improvement of peaceful life' in Kherson". Later, the Ukrainian ministry claimed that he was shot dead in his home by the

Russian military The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

due to refusing to cooperate with them during their occupation of Kherson Oblast. His death was reported on 13 October 2022.

Reactions

Ukraine's Kherson regional prosecutor's office is investigating his death "on the basis of violations of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder." Musicians

Dalia Stasevska Dalia Stasevska (born 30 December 1984) is a Finnish conductor. She is currently the principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and chief conductor of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Biography Born in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, ...

, Semyon Bychkov,

Vlad Vlad is a Romanian male given name. It is more commonly a nativized hypocorism of Vladislav and can also be used as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vlad I of Wallachia (), ''voivode'' (prince) of Wallachia * Vlad II Dracul ( ...

, and

Roger O'Donnell Roger O'Donnell (born 29 October 1955) is an English keyboardist best known for his work with The Cure. O'Donnell has also performed in The Psychedelic Furs, Thompson Twins and Berlin, as well as having an active solo career. Background O'Do ...

and writer Andrey Kurko responded to the news of his death on social media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerpatenko, Yurii 1976 births 2022 deaths 2022 murders in Europe People killed in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine People murdered in Ukraine Ukrainian conductors (music) Kyiv Conservatory alumni 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century Ukrainian musicians Musicians from Kherson Male conductors (music) Ukrainian accordionists 21st-century accordionists Music arrangers

Life

Death

Reactions

See also

References