Petrenko Alexander - biography and creativity

Fans of variety music of the sixties are familiar with the name of VIA "Good fellows", but very few people know where this group came from and how it has overcome the long path to fame. Petrenko Alexander stood at the origins of this ensemble. He is one of the most respected musicians of our time. Many novice composers and performers dream of getting a master class from a real stage meter.

Petrenko Alexander: Biography

Alexander was born a year after the war (in 1946) in the family of an officer of the Navy. Then the family lived in Moscow, but five years later the future musician with his parents moved to Leningrad. At the age of nine Alexander begins to study music. He attends lessons in a music school, learns to play the trumpet and receives the first knowledge of musical notation. The most attractive genre Petrenko Alexander chose jazz. At the school he mastered the trombone and in parallel takes private lessons from Leningrad musicians.
Music so enthralled him that at 19 years old the young man moved to Donetsk to his brother Igor, where he started to work in the philharmonic society. He received a conductor-choir education, which helped him a lot with the device. During his life he led a variety of teams and even acted as a teacher. However, Alexander lived in Donetsk for a short time, very soon he was visited by the idea of creating an ensemble, and he went to Leningrad, to his friends.

The First USSR VIA

However, Alexander Petrenko received the greatest popularity as one of the participants in the first vocal and instrumental ensemble, where he played solo guitar and performed as a vocalist. The creative work of the musician was strongly influenced by jazz. They listened and recorded western bands playing in this genre. The first compositions of the ensemble were developed under the style of the English collective Beatles.
The ensemble gathered in Leningrad, where Alexander quickly returned from Donetsk. The boys attracted students from the radio engineering institute. They assembled the recording equipment and acted as sound engineers. To earn money with his hobby, the young men began to perform at the cafe, their repertoire consisted of Western motifs. Later they developed their own concert program and performed with it in the Donetsk Philharmonic. From that moment the era of VIA and the professional activity of Alexander began as a member of the collective.

What the musician is doing now

Petrenko Alexander for his life worked with many eminent performers, such as Eduard Gil and Edita Pieha. On one stage, he performed with the beginner Yuri Antonov, who was also a member of the VIA. Alexander is one of the most talented arrangers and composers. Not long ago, the musician celebrated his professional jubilee - 50 years on stage.

Now he is engaged in training of youth. For this he created a studio in which every child can be trained. There is no professional competition and selection. Alexander trains from October to May. Children usually do not have the initial skills of the game, they learn everything from a clean slate, so in the studio schedule, the musical score is an obligatory subject.