Live Stream

HON. LITT. D., UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA; HON. DFA, DOANE COLLEGE

Carol F. and Arthur L. Rice Jr. University Professorship in Music Performance. Director of orchestras. In addition to his Northwestern duties, Victor Yampolsky also serves as music director of the Peninsula Music Festival in Door County, Wisconsin; honorary director of the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia; and music director emeritus of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra.

Professor Yampolsky studied violin with David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory, and conducting with Maestro Nicolai Rabinovich at the Leningrad Conservatory. He was a member of the Moscow Philharmonic as both assistant concertmaster and assistant conductor, under the direction of Maestro Kyrill Kondrashin. He emigrated from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1973, where a recommendation from conductor Zubin Mehta led to an audition for Leonard Bernstein, who offered Yampolsky a scholarship at the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, Massachusetts. Professor Yampolsky soon accepted a position in the violin section of the Boston Symphony and was later appointed the orchestra’s principal second violinist.

He has served as conductor of the Young Artists Orchestra at Tanglewood and principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has conducted over 80 professional and student orchestras throughout the world, including repeat engagements with orchestras in the United States, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, the Czech Republic, Israel and Chile.

A dedicated educator, Yampolsky has given conducting master classes throughout the world. He has served as adjunct professor of violin and director of orchestras at the Boston University School of Music. He has taught at the State Conservatory of St. Petersburg Russia; Stellenbosch Conservatory in South Africa; the Cape Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in Cape Town, South Africa; Emory University; and the Universities of Akron, Victoria, and Nevada. Other activities include serving as a panel member of the American Symphony Orchestra League (now the League of American Orchestras) Conductors’ Continuum Committee. He has been a juror for the Prokofiev International Conducting Competition in St. Petersburg, Russia; the Len van Zyl conducting competition in Cape Town, South Africa; and the Conductors Guild and CODA associations.

Professor Yampolsky has recorded for Pyramid and Kiwi-Pacific Records. He led the Omaha Symphony in its debut recording, Take Flight (2002) and the world premiere of Philip Glass’ second piano concerto, which received an award from the Nebraska Arts Council.

The Bienen School of Music's premier orchestra, the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra (NUSO) performs major literature from the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

NUSO is conducted and administered by Victor Yampolsky, director of orchestras. Under his baton, the ensemble has evolved into one of the nation’s great collegiate orchestras that has placed many alumni in top orchestras and opera companies. Many members are already contenders for positions in orchestras throughout the world. 

In spring 2018, NUSO embarked on a three-city Asia tour, with performances in Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing; Shanghai Symphony Hall, Shanghai; and Tsuen Wan Town Hall Auditorium, Hong Kong. 

This ensemble is open to music majors only.

BCE — the initials could easily stand for Beyond the Common Era or Before the Common Era.

The 24-voice ensemble sings a highly specialized, virtuosic repertoire for advanced choral singers, concentrating on music of the 21st century and drawing relationships to its polyphonic roots in early music, primarily that of the Renaissance. This ensemble is only open to music majors.

University Chorale is a large mixed-voice ensemble devoted to performing a diverse selection of works.

Comprised of graduate and undergraduate students, University Chorale often collaborates with the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra in masterworks and music of the 21st century. University Chorale occasionally serves as the chorus for Northwestern's opera productions. This ensemble is open to those having completed one full year of University Singers.