Yuriy Bekker

Director of Orchestra

Education

Peabody Conservatory
Graduate Performance

Indiana University School of Music
Master of Music
Bachelor of Music

Performances/Recording Highlights

Yuriy Bekker is a critically-acclaimed violinist and conductor, and an impassioned community ambassador. Bekker has been a mainstay of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) for 17 years. He has led the CSO as Artistic Director since 2021 and concurrently leads as Concertmaster (2007) and Principal Pops Conductor (2016). Bekker previously served as the orchestra’s Acting Artistic Director from 2010-2014 and has a long history of dedication and vision for the CSO. In 2011, he was given the Outstanding Artistic Achievement award from the city of Charleston to honor his cultural contributions to the community.

Bekker is also an adjunct faculty member of the College of Charleston School of the Arts as a violin professor and as conductor of the College of Charleston Orchestra. He has engaged internationally-renowned soloists, such as Augustin Hadelich and Sarah Chang, to perform with the students, leading to sold-out houses. In 2023, Bekker led the CofC Orchestra on their first tour with a debut at the Kennedy Center. The CofC Orchestra will have its Carnegie Hall debut in 2025. Bekker previously served as Music Director of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s Spotlight Chamber Music Series. He is co-founder of the Charleston Chamber Music Intensive (CCMI), a summer intensive program for high school and college-aged musicians. During the summer, he also serves on faculty of the Nelli Shkolnikova Academy in the Loire Valley, France.

Bekker has performed worldwide as a celebrated guest concertmaster, avid chamber musician, conductor and soloist. Bekker has held the position of concertmaster for the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and the AIMS Festival in Graz, Austria. He has also held positions with the Houston Symphony and the Houston Grand Opera and Ballet Orchestras. In addition to performing over a dozen violin concertos with the CSO, Bekker has performed as guest concertmaster with the Vancouver Symphony, Ulster Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, and Kansas City Symphony. He has also performed in many notable festivals and venues including European Music Festival in Stuttgart, Germany, Pacific Music Festival in Japan, Spoleto Festival USA, Aspen Music Festival, the Kennedy Center, Chicago Chamber Music Society and in other cities spanning the U.S. and around the world.

He has collaborated with Herbert Greenberg, Claudio Bohorquez, Alexander Kerr, Andres Cardenes, Andrew Armstrong, Robert DeMaine, Sara Chang, Gil Shaham, Ilya Kaler, Joshua Roman, JoAnn Falletta, Itzhak Perlman, Augustin Hadelich and Andrew Litton. As Principal Pops Conductor of the CSO, Bekker has worked with notable guest artists such as Ben Folds, Tony Desare, Ellis Hall, Ranky Tanky and Cirque de la Symphonie.

Bekker is a champion of contemporary and new music. He has recorded new works by Edward Hart and Thomas Cabaniss to critical acclaim. His recording of Edward Hart’s Under An Indigo Sky reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Classical Album chart. His debut CD, Twentieth Century Duos, received worldwide acclaim and a nomination for the International Classical Music Awards.

Bekker earned a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory under the tutelage of Herbert Greenberg. He also holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Indiana University School of Music, where he studied violin with Nelli Shkolnikova and Ilya Kaler. Bekker has studied conducting with Christopher Wilkins, David Zinman, Imre Pallo and David Effron.

Born in Minsk, Belarus, Bekker is now a U.S. citizen, proud husband to his wife, Jenny, and father to their children, Nathanael and Charlotte. Bekker performs on the 1638 Franz Degen Andrea Guarneri violin, generously on loan to him from an anonymous patron.

For more information, visit www.YuriyBekker.com.

Courses Taught

MUSC 354 - Orchestra