Artist biography

   Oleksandr Hornostai was born in a musical family in Zhytomyr in 1960. At the age of 5 he developed a perfect pitch, and began to play the piano and the violin. In 1978, A. Hornostai completed his studies at the Piano Department of the Viktor Kosenko Zhytomyr Music College, and in 1983, he earned his degree from the Piano Department of the State Conservatory in Kyiv.
    Oleksandr Hornostai’s creative and organizational activity began to develop in 1980, when he accepted the role of musical director of the National Student Ensemble «Eco» within Kyiv’s National Economic University. He led the ensemble in many concerts in Kyiv, and toured Finland.
    From 1984-1988, Oleksandr Hornostai was the piano soloist in the Rivne Philharmonic, with which he performed in over 500 concerts within Ukraine and other republics of the Soviet Union. In 1986, he was displaced as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, yet he continued to perform, and played in over 30 concerts with a special ensemble in the Poliskyi and Ivankivskiy districts of Kyiv region.
    Since 1988, Oleksandr Hornostai has been organizing concerts, tours, and music festivals. He has also been producing sound recordings of classical music. In 1989, he directed the first Ukrainian festival entitled «Chervona Ruta» («Red Rue»), which culminated in a series of tremendously successful concerts in September in Chernivtsi.
    Since October 1989, Oleksandr Hornostai has been the director of the concert tour department of the first Ukrainian-Canadian musical joint venture «Kobza» From November 1989 until March 1990, despite difficult political conditions, Oleksandr Hornostai organized nearly 100 concerts featuring the winners of the «Chervona Ruta» Festival. These concerts took place in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities. He later organized over 200 concerts featuring Ukrainian performers which took place in Ukraine, Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Poland, The United States and France.
    In 1993 Oleksandr Hornostai began cooperation with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and he continues to work with them to this day. Initially, as a producer of sound recordings of classical music, he organized nearly 60 recordings of Ukrainian and international repertoire, which at that time was the largest number of sound recordings of all the symphony orchestras within the former Soviet Union. Simultaneously, as the assistant artistic director and chief conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, he took an active part in organizing tours to Hong Kong (1995), Australia (1995), and Great Britain (1997).
    Between 1998 and 2000, as the Deputy General Manager and Artistic Director of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Oleksandr Hornostai organized over 100 concerts with leading local soloists and conductors, as well as world-renowned artists such as M. Caballe, J. Carreras, M. Legrand and The Electric Light Orchestra. He simultaneously produced nearly 40 recordings of the Orchestra for the series entitled «American Classics».
    Between 2000 and 2006, Oleksandr Hornostai worked on a number of artistic projects, including the popular television documentary series «Roads of Ukraine» (25 episodes), and «Roads of Ukrainians» (20 episodes) , which aired on the First National Channel. He also produced over 50 CD recordings of contemporary American composers.
    In June of 2006, Oleksandr Hornostai returned to the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine as its Executive Director & Producer, and began a fruitful collaboration with its Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Volodymyr Sirenko. Over the next years, Oleksandr Hornostai organized many successful concert tours: Austria (2014, 2019, 2022), Bahrain (2013), Belgium (2007, 2022, 2024), Canada (2017), China (2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020), China/Taiwan (2023), France (2006, 2008, 2012, 2025), Germany (2017, 2021, 2022, 2024), Iran (2008), Ireland (2026), Italy (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2022), Japan (2012, 2014), Jordan (2016), Lebanon (2013, 2026), Liechtenstein (2022, 2024), Oman (2013), Poland (2012, 2016, 2022, 2024), Portugal (2006, 2008, 2009), Slovakia (2023), Spain (2006, 2008), Switzerland (2007, 2022, 2023, 2024), United Arab Emirates (2007, 2013), United Kingdom (2023, 2026) and United States of America (2017, 2019, 2020, 2024). He directed a successful series of commemorative concerts celebrating the 90th and 100th anniversaries of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, which took place in Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine, and organized performances of official delegations of the collective in Astana, London, Amsterdam, Prague, Bratislava and Strasbourg (2008).
    Oleksandr Hornostai also founded the Ukrainian-American Music Festival in Kyiv, which was held in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
    Between 2012 and 2020, Oleksandr Hornostai produced sound recordings of the National Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Yevhen Stankovych’s Ukrainian folk-opera «When the Fern Blossoms», the oratorio «The Passion of Taras», and Stankovych’s other compositions. He also produced sound recordings of Borys Liatoshynsky’s complete symphonies and Myroslav Skoryk’s complete Violin Concertos.