Lidia Kovalenko

VIOLIN

Lidia Kovalenko, born in Novosibirsk, Russia, started her musical studies at the age of 5 in Perm with prof. B.Makarova. Later she has studied violin with prof. Benumov in Krasnoyarsk and with prof. Komarova in Leningrad Special Music School. She is a graduate of the St.Petersburg State Conservatoire where she studied violin with prof. A. Yuriev and M. Gantvarg, additional studies of chamber music have been with prof. Fidler and Shafran. In 1994 she won prize in the All-Russian Violin Competition in Voronejz. In 1997 she won diploma and special prize for best performance of works by Shostakovich in the International Chamber Music Competition named after Shostakovich in Hanover, Germany.

Ms. Kovalenko has appeared as concerto soloist with several St. Petersburg Orchestras and performed in the best halls of St.Petersburg: Philharmonic Hall, Conservatoire Hall, State Capella Hall and others. She has toured extensively throughout the Russia as soloist and chamber musician in Samara, Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Kislovodsk, Saratov, Arhangelsk and others. She also toured around the world as soloist and as a member of different chamber groups in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, USA, Japan, Brazil, China and others. She has performed with such outstanding musicians as A.Rudin, S. Stadler, I. Ioff, I. Uryash, X. Phillips and E. Rodrigues.  She plays a lot of chamber music as viola player.

Ms. Kovalenko has recorded several violin-CD with music by Shostakovich, Schnittke and virtuoso pieces of Paganini, Wieniawski, Ernst and Sarasate.
She is the principal violinist of the Divertissement String Ensemble, St.Petersburg and is member of the faculty at the St.Petersburg State Conservatoire.