Violina Petrychenko was born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, into a family of musicians. She began playing the piano at the age of six, and her passion for music quickly became a central part of her life. At the music school in Zaporizhzhia, she focused intensively on piano and musicology, with her curiosity and dedication leading her to participate in international conferences and competitions at an early age. At twelve, she took part in the prestigious S. Prokofiev International Competition, and at sixteen, her first theoretical work was published.
She continued her studies at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv, specializing in piano performance. In 2007, her journey led her to Germany, where she studied at the Hochschule für Musik "Franz Liszt" in Weimar and later at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne under the tutelage of Professor Jakob Leuschner. Today, Violina continues to refine her craft under the guidance of Professor Evgeny Sinaiski at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. Her artistic development has been further enriched by masterclasses with renowned musicians such as Peter Nagy, Ferenc Rados, Geoffrey Swann, Evgeny Skovorodnikov, and Pierre-Laurent Aimard.
Violina's musical achievements have been recognized with numerous awards and scholarships, including those from the Society of Friends and Sponsors of the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar, the New Liszt Foundation Weimar, the Anna Ruths Foundation, and the Werner Richard - Dr. Carl Dörken Foundation. For her outstanding academic and artistic accomplishments, she received the DAAD Prize and the Folkwang University of the Arts Music Award. Her international concert career has taken her to Germany, France, Austria, Spain, the Czech Republic, and her native Ukraine, where she has captivated audiences with her profound musicality and commitment to Ukrainian culture.
A significant aspect of Violina Petrychenko's career is her work in chamber music. She founded the duo "Kiel" with saxophonist Kirstin Niederstraßer and the trio "Serenade," with which she regularly performs Ukrainian works. Her artistic focus, however, is not only on the interpretation of Western classical music but also on the preservation and rediscovery of Ukrainian composers, whose works she records and presents worldwide with great dedication.
In 2015, Violina released her second solo album, "Ukrainian Moods," dedicated entirely to the works of Ukrainian composers. Notably, she has made significant contributions to the promotion of Vasyl Barvinsky's legacy, recording his piano compositions and premiering his piano concerto in London and Palermo in 2022. In 2023, she released the album "Dreams – Ukrainian Hope," featuring works by Lysenko, Stepovyi, and Revutsky, which was nominated for the prestigious "Opus Klassik" award. Her album "Passion for Ukraine," created in collaboration with renowned singer Lena Belkina, further showcased her deep connection to Ukrainian musical traditions.
In addition to her artistic work, Violina is actively involved as an artistic director and co-organizer of the Days of Ukrainian Music in Münster, Germany. In 2023, she founded the Ukrainian music festival "Sounds of Ukraine," which aims to showcase the diversity of Ukrainian music and bring it to a wider European audience. Since August 2023, Violina has also been performing as a soloist with the Lviv Philharmonic, providing her with an even greater platform to continue her mission of cultural diplomacy and the promotion of Ukrainian music.
Her work culminated in the release of the album "Winter Whispers" in late 2023, featuring Christmas music by Ukrainian composers such as Barvinsky, Dremlyuga, and Silvestrov. In the 2023/24 concert season, she embarked on an extensive tour across Germany, performing Barvinsky's piano concerto under the baton of Volodymyr Syvokhip. The 2024/25 season marks another highlight in her career, with a new interpretation of Viktor Kosenko's piano concerto, which has already been performed in major philharmonics in Ukraine and Poland.
Violina Petrychenko continues to be a driving force in chamber music. In the project "Ludkevych 145," she collaborates with her colleague Natalia Gordeeva and the Svitzer publishing house to record works that previously existed only as manuscripts. Her artistic journey is further enriched by numerous concerts with the Phoenix String Quartet, where they perform important piano quintets by Schumann, Lyatoshynsky, and Barvinsky.
In 2024, she will continue her festival "Sounds of Ukraine," dedicated to spreading the beauty and diversity of Ukrainian music in Germany and beyond.
