Yuri Pochekin

Yuri Pochekin‘s creative work has been going on for more than half a century since he made his first violin when he was just 18. He was educated at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow specializing in violin and string quartet after which he focused his efforts entirely on lutherie, which grew over time into his whole life passion.
In 1974, his violins were awarded the First and Second Prizes at the IV National Competition of the USSR for Violin Makers. After this he went to Italy to study at the Cremona international violin making school, Istituto di Istruzione Superiore Antonio Stradivari, where his teachers were Franceso Bissolotti and Giobatta Morassi. In 1979, the viola made by Yuri Pochekin won the third prize and the bronze medal at the International Triennale Violin Making Competition Antonio Stradivari in Cremona.
The knowledge and traditions he inherited from his Italian teachers undoubtedly had a huge influence on him. The finishing touches to his professional education were added by Přemysl Otakar Špidlen during Yuri’s internship in Prague in 1980.
Having received a versatile education as a violinist and musician, Yuri perfectly feels the nature of instruments, paying attention to the subtlest colours of their sound.
To date, he has already made about 300 instruments, violins, violas and cellos, which are played by many concert musicians. Yuri has a special love for preparing his own varnish. Studying the surviving old manuscripts, he constantly experiments in search for a fine and perfect varnish.
For many years he collaborated as a restorer with different institutions, collections and museums, including the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the State Collection of Unique String Instruments of Russia, Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid. Many instruments of great old masters passed through his careful hands, including A. Stradivari, G. Guarneri del Gesu, G.B. Guadagnini, C. Bergonzi, M. Gofriller, N. and A. Amati, etc.
Since 1998, Yuri has been living and working in Madrid. In December 1999, the First International José Contreras Competition was held in Seville. Yuri’s instruments were awarded two First Prizes – for violin and viola, as well as two special prizes – for the best sound and for the best artistic performance of the work.
Yuri is a member of the International Society of Violin and Bow Makers (EILA) and the Spanish Association of Violin Makers (AELAP).
Yuri has been repeatedly invited as a jury member to judge major contests including the Henryk Vieniawski Violin Making International Competition in Poznan and P. Tchaikovsky Violin Making International Competition in Moscow or the International Triennale Violin Making Competition Antonio Stradivari in Cremona.