Victor Yampolsky

Victor Yampolsky (born 1942) is a Russian-born conductor and the son of pianist Vladimir Yampolsky. He is director of orchestras at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music, a position he has held since 1984. He is the music director emeritus of the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, where he was music director from 1995-2004. He also is the music director of the Peninsula Music Festival and the honorary director of the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Before his appointment to the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, Yampolsky served as the principal conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of South Africa and as the resident conductor of the Chicago Civic Orchestra, the training ground for younger musicians under the auspices of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Yampolsky was born in the Soviet Union in 1942. He is the son of noted pianist Vladimir Yampolsky. According to his biography, Yampolsky "studied violin with the legendary David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory (1961–1966) and conducting with Maestro Nikolai Rabinovich at the Leningrad Conservatory (1968–1973). He was a member of the Moscow Philharmonic as both violinist and assistant conductor, under the direction of renowned Maestro Kyrill Kondrashin." Yampolsky holds a bachelor's degree in conducting from the Leningrad Conservatory and a second bachelor's degree and artist diploma in violin performance from the Moscow Conservatory.

Yampolsky left the Soviet Union in 1973 when a recommendation from Zubin Mehta led to an audition for Leonard Bernstein, who offered Yampolsky a scholarship at Tanglewood Music Center. Two weeks later, Yampolsky accepted a position in the violin section of the Boston Symphony (1973). He was later appointed the orchestra's principal second violinist (1975–1977).

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