Leonid Yanovskiy

Professor & Director of Strings

“...a luminous performance;a sumptuous, vibrato-rich tone and a kind of energy that made the fast movements dance.”
New York Times, July 20, 2012

“...consummate soloist. His playing, as always, defined integrity and mastery of his instrument.” - Pensacola News Journal, November 9, 2009

“Brilliant success... Effective program... Refined musical taste...”
Russian Musician, Moscow, March 2005

"Yanovskiy... has made a name for himself as a soloist and a chamber musician, with concert credits all over the world. ...Played with finesse and sensitive touch." Denton Record Chronicle, September 5, 2004

Russian born violinist and violist, Leonid Yanovskiy is Professor, Director of Strings and Orchestra at the University of West Florida, Concertmaster with the Northwest Florida Symphony and Pensacola Symphony Orchestras, Principal Violinist with the Washington Square Festival, NYC, and the founding member and co-director of the Gulf Coast Virtuosi Chamber Music Ensemble. Yanovskiy graduated from the Moscow Gnessin College and Institute of Music, the Rutgers University and the Fontenbleau Conservatoire Americaine, France. Among his teachers were Arnold Steinhardt and Michael Tree of the Guarneri Quartet, and Olivier Charlier of the Paris Conservatory.

Yanovskiy taught violin and chamber music at the Moscow Gnessin College and Academy of Music, was Principal Violinist with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra Northern Crown, Principal Violinist with the Goliard Chamber Ensemble, NYC and Philadelphia Virtuosi, as well as violinist with the American Symphony and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. With the two latter ensembles under the baton of Abbado, Botstein, Mackerras, Menuhin, Norrington, Previn, Shaw, Zinman, and others, Yanovskiy appeared on stages of the Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher and Alice Tully Halls, the Metropolitan Opera, Kennedy Center, Chicago Orchestra Hall, and others. Yanovskiy performed solo and chamber music recitals throughout the United States, as well as in Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Korea, and Russia.

In 2000, Dr. Yanovskiy launched the String and Orchestra Programs at the University of West Florida, Pensacola. Under his baton, the University orchestra has performed with distinguished soloists, chamber ensembles and choral groups from New York, as well as from Switzerland and Sweden. Students of Dr. Yanovskiy are winners of National and State violin and chamber music competitions; they successfully enter prestigious graduate programs, receive scholarships and graduate assistantships at such prominent music institutions as the Juilliard, University of North Texas, University of Maryland, Florida State University, Meadowmount School of Music, and Encore International Summer School.