Igor Evgenievich Kornelyuk (born 1962) is a Soviet and Russian singer, composer and TV presenter. Honored Artist of Russia.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Igor Kornelyuk, which we will discuss in this article.
So, here is a short biography of Kornelyuk.
Biography of Igor Kornelyuk
Igor Kornelyuk was born on November 16, 1962 in the Belarusian city of Brest. He grew up and was brought up in a simple working-class family. His father, Evgeny Kasyanovich, worked on the railway, and his mother, Nina Afanasyevna, was an engineer. He has a sister Natalya.
Childhood and youth
Igor's parents were creative people, which was passed on to their children. The head of the family had good vocal abilities and loved to sing. However, after 3 strokes and 2 heart attacks, the man could not speak for 18 years, dying from another heart attack.
Mother also loved to sing and was fond of sewing. When Kornelyuk was 6 years old, his parents sent him to music school. The boy had a ringing voice. He wrote his first song, “Russia, dear Russia, slender trunks of birch trees...” at the age of 9.
As a teenager, Igor played keyboards in an ensemble on the dance floor at a local recreation center. After finishing 8th grade, he continued to receive his education at the Brest Music School, but a year later he moved to Leningrad, where his relatives lived.
Here Igor Kornelyuk entered the music school in the theoretical and composition department. He received the highest grades in all subjects, as a result of which he graduated from the institution with honors. He then successfully passed the exams at the Leningrad Conservatory in composition, graduating in 1987.
By that time in his biography, Kornelyuk was already married, with a small son Anton in his arms. To feed his family, the student was forced to look for additional income. As a result, he often sang at weddings and other events.
Childhood and youth
Igor was born on November 16, 1962 in Brest (Belarus). His parents were not musicians. His father worked on the railroad, his mother worked as an engineer. His sister studied violin and piano at a music school. The love of music was passed on to the children from grandmother Maria, who sang romances with a guitar.
- Igor Vernik: biography, personal life, family, wife, children - photo
Igor Kornelyuk in childhood and youth
The parents were against their son’s musical education, but on the advice of a conservatory professor, in 1968 they sent Igor to a music school. He had a sonorous voice, and he often sang during family holidays in the presence of guests, accompanying himself on the button accordion. Igor wrote his first song, entitled “Russia, dear Russia, slender trunks of birches...” at the age of 9.
Studying at a music school was not encouraging; the boy was not good at solfeggio, but this did not stop him from playing at dances. From the age of 12, on weekends, Igor performed at the Palace of Culture with an ensemble. His musical work experience began in the 5th grade. Igor played the ionica and received 30 rubles a month for this. There he first met his love Lyuba. Igor, despite his young age, truly fell in love, but the girl did not respond to his feelings.
Igor Kornelyuk
For the vulnerable child's soul, this became a tragedy that affected his health. When Igor recovered from mental trauma and illness, he felt the need to express everything that filled his soul. So the girl Lyuba made him a composer. The first, still naive, songs about love appeared. He took words for his works from Sergei Yesenin, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva and even Boris Pasternak.
Igor enters the music school after 8th grade. Little time was devoted to studying, since he played in a rock ensemble, “hanged out” and returned home in the morning. At that time, he received advice from one of the teachers that influenced his future fate. Igor was advised to go to Leningrad, where at that time there was a strong composing school.
Igor Kornelyuk
The decision to move was hasty; he confronted his parents with a fait accompli by announcing that he was going to Leningrad. He passed the exams without expecting success, so he was very surprised when the teacher approached him and congratulated him on his enrollment. This teacher was Vladlen Chistyakov, who would become his mentor and close friend.
The study turned out to be difficult, but fruitful and interesting. Students studied the work of the orchestra and practiced composition. While studying at the school, Kornelyuk was entrusted with writing the musical accompaniment for the play “Trumpeter on the Square” for the Drama Theater. Pushkin. The school was successfully completed in 1982.
Wedding of Igor Kornelyuk
By the time he entered the conservatory, Kornelyuk already had a family to support. The scholarship was not enough, so he worked part-time where he could. During his studies, he wrote a symphony, composed romances, music for films and theater productions. During this period, he mastered synthesizers and computers. His thesis, which Kornelyuk defended with excellent marks, was a computer symphony.
Music
Igor, as a composer, was seriously influenced by the music of the British rock group Queen, as well as jazz. While studying at the conservatory, he showed great interest in the works of famous Russian composers.
In the mid-80s, Kornelyuk collaborated with the Experiment Theater. Then he received the position of musical director of the Leningrad Buff Theater.
At the same time, Igor recorded his debut EP “A Boy Was Friends with a Girl” (with lyrics by Sergei Mikhalkov) performed by Albert Asadullin. Since that time, various Soviet artists began to seek cooperation with him. In Kornelyuk’s composition “Find out”, Anne Veski became the winner of the international competition in Sopot.
In parallel with this, the composer wrote the song “Not with Me” for Svetlana Medyanik, with which she took 2nd place in the TV competition “Jurmala-1986”. It is worth noting that Igor Kornelyuk was able to reach great heights as a pop singer.
An interesting fact is that in 1987 the artist became the best author and performer of his own songs. The following year, he began his solo career in the famous television program “Musical Ring”. In addition, he managed to reach the finals of the famous “Song of the Year – 1988” competition.
By that time in his biography, Igor Kornelyuk had already written a number of hits, including “Rains”, “Ticket to the Ballet”, “Come Back”, “You never know”, “Smoke”, etc. At the same time, he wrote music for films and performances.
The composer's songs were performed by many stars, including Mikhail Boyarsky, Edita Piekha and Philip Kirkorov. From 1988 to 1993, he presented 3 solo discs: “Ticket to the Ballet”, “Wait” and “I Can’t Live Like This”. Not a single major music competition could do without it.
In 1990, Igor Evgenievich participated in the filming of the film “Kud-kud-kuda, or Provincial stories with interludes and divertissement in the finale.” A couple of years later, the film “Let Them Talk” was released, dedicated to the work of Kornelyuk.
In 1998, the singer’s next album, “Hello, and this is Kornelyuk!” was released. He actively tours different cities and countries, performing at the largest venues. It is important to note that he has composed scores of scores for dozens of films throughout his career.
Compositions by Igor Kornelyuk can be heard in such films as “The Idiot”, “Taras Bulba”, “Russian Translation”, “The Master and Margaritas”, etc. He is the author of the acclaimed hit “The City That Doesn’t Exist” from the television series “Gangster Petersburg.”
It’s interesting that Igor rewrote this song three times, trying to “fit” it as closely as possible to the essence of the series. Over the years of his creative biography, Kornelyuk wrote over 200 songs. In the spring of 2014, he was part of the judging panel of the popular TV show “One on One.”
Igor Kornelyuk: Study
The talented boy did not have much success in music school; he did not get along well with solfeggio. His abilities were in demand at dances, where he played in the Palace of Culture with an ensemble from the age of 12. Igor was paid thirty rubles a month. As a teenager, he began writing songs based on poems by famous poets. The reason for this was the first unrequited love. After graduating from eight classes, Kornelyuk entered a music school. The guy did not become a diligent student; he played in an ensemble. But the teachers saw Igor’s talent and advised him to study at the Leningrad School of Composition. The young man followed the advice and successfully passed the exams. Teacher Vladlen Chistyakov is Kornelyuk’s first mentor and close friend, who influenced his further biography.
Personal life
The artist’s wife is Marina Kornelyuk, who is trained as a choir conductor. The couple legalized their relationship after a 2-year romance, when they were 19 years old. When Igor was a first-year student at the conservatory, his son Anton was born.
Wedding of Igor Kornelyuk
In 2000, Marina became her husband’s director, organizing concerts and performing other responsible work. In 2012, it became known that Igor had diabetes. In one of his last interviews, he admitted that he had not drunk alcohol for many years.
Igor Kornelyuk: “My father believed that music was not serious”
Father's fate
Singer and composer Igor Kornelyuk married early, became a father early, in his youth he had to live in the same room with his wife, child and mother-in-law, and to write music he had to lock himself in the toilet. But all this did not stop him from becoming the author of many melodies and songs that listeners remember and love. A successful musician’s only regret is that he has only one son, and not, for example, 18 children: “A little shooter is running,” he laughs, “and you think, what is his name?”
“Dad” talked with Igor Kornelyuk about family traditions, decisions made in his youth and, of course, creativity.
Igor Evgenievich Kornelyuk is a singer and composer. Born on November 16, 1962 in Brest. He graduated from the music school at the Leningrad Conservatory. ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov (1982), Leningrad Conservatory in composition class (1987). In 1988 he began his solo career in the television program “Musical Ring”, in the same year he reached the finals of the “Song of the Year” festival. The author of numerous musical hits, works with famous Russian pop performers, writes music for plays and films. The absolute record for popularity belongs to his song “The City That Doesn’t Exist” for the TV series “Gangster Petersburg.” Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (2007). His wife Marina is the musician’s director. The couple have an adult son, Anton.
Noisy family
— Igor Evgenievich, you have a wonderful song “Noisy Family”. For what reason was it written?
— In fact, the song is called “About the Family,” and they call it “Noisy Family” after the first words.
In the late 90s I worked as a presenter on Russian television. The program that I led was called “Dad, Mom, I am a sports family!” and ended with this song. Since she walked at about 8 am on Sunday, in my opinion, no one saw her, not even me, because getting up on a day off at such a time is torture for a creative person!
- But someone watched it?
— Of course, participants, athletes and people with children who were interested in these sports competitions and family competitions watched. The words to this song were written by Dmitry Rubin, who captured the essence very well. Moreover, everything was done very quickly. I composed a melody, arranged it and gave it to the author with the wish: “Dima, I need poetry the day after tomorrow!”
— So the melody appeared first?
- And this is always the case!
- The inhabitants are convinced that first the poems, and then they come up with a melody for them...
— A song is such a synthetic and syncretic genre that the text is always written to music. Melody, intonation, some arrangement points dictate the words, because song lyrics and poetry are different genres.
Have you noticed that very little good music has been written for high poetry? Do you know why? Because good poetry is self-sufficient, it rejects any music. For example, you read Pushkin’s poems, and the music is already embedded in them, you don’t need to sing them! With all due respect to Glinka's work, when I hear (sings)
: “I remember a wonderful moment - you appeared before me!” - this is, of course, some kind of crap. Because Pushkin’s poetry has everything, and this music of Glinka is there like a “fifth wheel” or like a sleeve sewn in the wrong place.
— Is your family as noisy as in the song?
— Perhaps, but I think that every year she becomes more and more calm. Marina is generally a balanced person, unlike me, and I, too, become less frantic with age! (smiles)
Our son has also somehow matured.
Igor Kornelyuk with his wife and son
If we remember our family about thirty years ago, when we lived near the Gorkovskaya metro station, we had a walk-through yard, because any of our friends, and there were hundreds of them then, when they got to the city center, considered it their duty to come to us for a cup of coffee. There were about twenty people in our house at all times! They changed: some left, others came. At that time I was sitting in the room, doing something there, going out and seeing - oh, there are different people, it’s smoky, it’s like hanging an ax, it’s noisy... But we were young and we liked it all. Over the years, for some reason, there have been fewer friends, we ourselves are becoming calmer, our needs are more modest, but, probably, this is the law of life, and this is how it should be?..
Family tradition of receiving guests
— Was there similar hospitality in your parents’ family?
- Yes, and for some reason all family holidays and not only family ones, even the birthdays of relatives, were celebrated with us - everyone came to visit us. My dad, Evgeny Kasyanovich Kornelyuk, was a very cheerful person, such a joker.
Igor Kornelyuk with his father
-Are you like him?
“I’m a pathetic copy of dad, because he joked like that... You know, the first hour people were eating and drinking, by the second hour people were already lying under the table from dad’s jokes.” The fact is that my father once entered the Minsk Theater Institute, but he was not accepted. He returned and told all his relatives: “Well, okay! The future of Soviet culture has lost an outstanding representative!”
- Well said!
— In general, guests came to us, ate, drank, and then sang. Moreover, all relatives were singing people; they sang, as a rule, in two or three voices. That was great! Unexpectedly, but years later, I am trying to revive this tradition of singing with guests. I really like it and, apparently, my friends do too.
-Where do you sing?
— We live outside the city, and next to the house we built a pavilion, which we call a gazebo. In winter it’s warm there, but in summer everything opens up and you can practically sit outside. There I placed a small piano, and just like in my youth, guests come, I sit down at the instrument and we start singing.
In recent years, people prefer to meet on neutral territory: in a restaurant, in a cafe - so as not to cook and not stress. But for some reason this situation seems somehow institutional to me. Still, it’s not possible to communicate mentally there - I can’t relax in a cafe, I feel somehow squeezed, because there can always be strangers nearby.
— Women usually do not approve of such a cheerful atmosphere in the family, when guests constantly come, firstly, because it distracts the husband from household chores, secondly, it costs money, and thirdly, you want to be alone with him. Marina doesn't mind?
“Surprisingly, Marina accepted this way of life quite calmly. Now we live far from the center, friends don’t come to us very often, but they can come with a group of fifteen people. When Marina is taken by surprise, she begins to blubber because she takes a responsible approach to receiving guests. But it doesn’t last long and goes away quickly. But I still love it when guests come!
Igor Kornelyuk
“The profession must be real!”
— It’s clear that you inherited your passion for music from your father. What was included in his education system?
“Dad categorically did not like the fact that I was going to become a musician!”
— So it’s normal that he wanted to be an actor, but you can’t become a musician?
- Exactly.
- Why? Didn’t he see a talent for this profession in you?
“My father believed that music was not serious, and a man should acquire a normal profession, go to college, preferably civil engineering, or some other technical university, or, finally, to a financial and economic university. He told me: “Get a profession, and then sing as much as you want!” Another of his phrases: “The profession must be real!” Well, and one more thing: “Son, you still want to be a musician, but all musicians are alcoholics, believe me!” (laughs)
- Why did he think that?
- You should have known my dad - he spoke ironically about everything, and no matter what he said, it was banter or irony, he always hung up some funny labels. When he spoke seriously and when he joked, it was not always immediately clear.
Igor Kornelyuk, school photo
— What did you answer to his father’s warning about alcohol?
- I said: “No, dad, not everyone is an alcoholic!” But do you think that's the end of it? When guests arrived and we sat with the adults at the same table, dad poured vodka. He walked from glass to glass, came to me and said: “Son, drink, you still want to become a musician!” - he poured it for me too!
- How old were you?
- Twelve, maybe ten, but when he poured it, he, of course, understood that I wouldn’t drink, it was just a gesture, thereby he was laughing at me.
— Slowly “dripping on your brain,” hoping that you would abandon the plan?
- Naturally! Of course, you understand, when the father pours vodka for his young son, it amuses the guests, and the father adds: “Drink, it’ll end with this anyway!”
- But was it a joke or did your father really not come to terms with your choice?
“Even years later, dad was still unhappy. Then I became “Igor Kornelyuk,” a touring performer, and then one day a story happened that changed everything.
Igor Kornelyuk
The car as a means of persuasion
— How did you manage to convince dad?
- Using a car. My father was an avid motorist. A railway worker by profession, he worked all his life as a dispatcher at the Brest-Tsentralny station, the largest transport hub in the Soviet Union. A serious position and great responsibility. Specifically, my father was engaged in sending trains abroad. He was often nervous because there were not very responsible comrades on the Polish side. In 1969, he bought his first car - a Zaporozhets, a soap box. A chic car for those times. With tinned body and one of the first serial numbers. True, dad repaired the car more than drove it, but still - it was his own car!
And when new models of Zhiguli, Eight and Nine began to appear in the early 80s, he immediately joined the queue. In those years, you couldn’t go to a car dealership and buy a car like you can today. You had to sign up for a car (usually this was done at your place of work) and wait for years for it.
Finally, dad received a letter, and his father was about to go get a car, but he became seriously ill, he was taken straight from work to the hospital, and when he recovered and still wanted to buy a car, he was refused at work: “Why do you need a car, Evgeniy Kasyanovich, It’s bad for you to drive!” The father was very offended. He devoted so many years to this work...
And in those years I had already become popular, I was invited to speak at enterprises, and suddenly they called from the car plant in Tolyatti. I agreed to speak, but asked me to sell the car directly from the assembly line - without waiting in line.
- Sold?
- Yes. A beautiful, brand new ruby-colored nine. It never occurred to me then that red for a car is a slightly feminine option, unless it’s a Ferrari, of course. But at that time, I bought at least something, thank God!
I drove the car to Brest, washed the car before entering the city, rolled it on the back side of the house, and walked up to the entrance - in Brest we had a house in the private sector. I see dad sitting on the porch peeling potatoes. “Igorek, where did you come from?” I replied that I had stopped by for a minute while passing through from Poland. And then I took him by the arm, we walked around the house, and there was “nine.” I say: “Dad, this is for you!” For the first time I saw my father cry... Then I asked: “Dad, you must agree, the profession of a musician is also good, not entirely flawed, what matters is what kind of musician?”
— Did your father agree with you?
— I agreed, and moreover, after this incident I finally came to terms with my professional choice.
Father of the musician Evgeny Kasyanovich Kornelyuk
Early fatherhood
— Is it true that your parents were against your marriage?
- Naturally, because I was going to get married early - at nineteen years old. As our good friend, the famous grandmaster and pianist Mark Evgenievich Taimanov said about Marina and me, I remembered this phrase by heart: “The young people loved each other so much that their child was born six months after the wedding, and not nine!” (laughs)
As a man, I made a decision, and I believe that our marriage was blessed by heaven, because Marina turned out to be a wonderful lifelong friend.
Wedding
— How did you perceive your fatherhood?
Student Igor Kornelyuk. Photo: Vadim Sokolov
— It was a very difficult feeling. On the one hand, there is a feeling of miracle. On the other hand, I’m twenty years old, a first year student at the conservatory, I’m still a child myself, but I already have a son. I remember that time as a period when I constantly wanted to sleep. There were six people in our group, and during classes the teacher sat at the piano, and we sat around him. I came, sat behind the teacher and instantly fell asleep!
The feeling of fatherhood was mostly positive, but there was also a fear that the child would get sick. It was like the end of the world! I always thought that I would rather be sick than a child, and now this remains with me when my family gets sick. When you feel that a loved one is suffering, and you don’t know how to help, it’s always scary.
— What do you think a man should pass on to his son in terms of upbringing? What did you tell Anton?
“I don’t rate myself highly as a father, because it so happened that when Anton was three, four, five years old, I started touring with all my might, and my son practically didn’t see me. Of course, it was necessary to plan life somehow differently, to pay more attention to the child. Now I terribly regret the missed time. If I could relive everything again, then in my childhood I would learn crafts from my father - carpentry, carpentry, making furniture with my own hands, so that I could later pass on this skill to Anton. I never had such skills...
Igor Kornelyuk with his son Anton
Wife Director
— Your wife Marina is also your director. How do you like your work?
— I usually joke that Marina is the first director who does not steal. In fact, it is very convenient when everything is decided in the family. Sometimes Marina decides to perform or not not for mercantile reasons, but for human ones. She organizes everything more flexibly, for example, she may consider that we are very tired and there is no need to go somewhere. When my wife became a director, I had a lot of time. When I imagine how much I would talk on the phone every day, I feel sick! I wouldn't have time to do anything! And so Marina took over this function.
- What is the recipe for saving your marriage?
“I believe that this is a purely female achievement, and in the family everything depends 90% on the wife. Now I understand exactly why a woman is called the keeper of the home.
- And why?
- Because everything depends on her wisdom and understanding. When a woman gets into a pose, everything can fall apart. Marinka and I would have run away three hundred times, but she had the skill and tact to level the situation so that the problem would dissolve on its own. Of course, in my youth I was hot - wow! ¬– but Marina did everything very wisely, and I am sure that in all families their safety depends only on the spouse.
- Opera diva Galina Vishnevskaya said in one of her interviews that her own marital experience proves that there is no need to change each other - she tried and it’s pointless... Did Marina try to change you?
- I think no. She immediately took me for granted, for which I am very grateful to her. Vishnevskaya was right - there is no need to remake each other. You need to find some resources within yourself and bring your positions closer together, but this, it seems to me, also depends on the woman.
- Should we forgive each other?
- And to forgive, including. Of course, not everything in the world, but you know, sometimes there are some small things that begin to turn into something huge. To prevent some little thing from becoming huge, you need to find ways to exist and get closer.
— Marina, perhaps you should write a book about how to marry a musician and save your family?
— With the epigraph “Musicians are people too, though not very good ones” (laughs)
.
Igor Kornelyuk with his wife Marina
The torment and miracle of creativity
— What does your son Anton do? Was he attracted to creativity?
“I once tried to instill in him a love of music, but he didn’t show much desire, and I didn’t insist, and I still don’t know if I was right?
I loved music school, but I also remember what it was like to play scales when it was sunny and warm outside and other children were playing ball. There were a lot of guys in our group who couldn’t stand playing music, but their parents forced them to.
Anton, when he was little, would come into my studio, sit for five minutes and run away - he wasn’t interested. But he became interested in all the computer technologies that exist and works in this field.
— Is Anton proud of you?
— Anton is incredibly reserved, speaks rarely, but accurately, in monosyllabic sentences. He is so laconic that I learn a lot from Marina’s words. To find out something, Anton must be tortured. He respects what I do. Being proud is probably a very strong expression for him! (smiles)
— In one of your interviews, you said that the joy of creativity is higher than all other joys... Did you pass this on to your son?
“Even if he thinks and feels this way, he doesn’t tell me about it.”
And the joy of creativity is truly the greatest joy in life. It is the same as the joy of love, because it is always balanced by torment. True, in youth, these torments, as a rule, do not happen, because from somewhere above you are made to understand that you have it all. And creativity itself at a young age has the character of a game: you take an instrument - a guitar, a piano - it doesn’t matter, and it just flows, as if someone is telling you. And then everything changes, which is why creative tragedies happen - people think that it will be like this all their lives. No, this is only true in youth and only at the beginning, and then you have to work through this story.
Then the pangs of creativity begin, when nothing works out, you search, work, can’t find a place for yourself, don’t eat, don’t sleep, and suddenly a spark appears. This is a miracle, because I will never be able to explain why I feel on my skin that a spark ran between the notes, and how did I catch it?
Igor Kornelyuk, 2000
— For writers, if you don’t write down a phrase right away, it is forgotten. Does the composer remember the melody?
“I encountered this phenomenon in my youth. Sometimes, it happens, I dream about music in the middle of the night, as if it came by itself, and so I start spinning this melody in my head and think, God, how great, but, okay, in the morning I’ll sit down at the instrument and record it and work with it. I wake up and she’s forgotten! It seems like yesterday I played it thousands of times, sang it, but it’s not there. Since I discovered this, I always have music paper and a pencil next to my bed. But with age, such insights occur less and less often; like a gold digger, you have to wash a huge amount of waste rock in order to find a grain of gold.
— Do you have songs about your family?
— I didn’t write such songs specifically, but listening to the music I wrote, I immediately remember the time when it was created, and with it all our family sorrows and joys, because all this is reflected there.
Igor Kornelyuk
