Biography
Victor was born in Vilnogirsk and grew up in Drohobych, Ukraine. From the age of 8, he studied the bayan (chromatic squeeze-box). At 12, a friend showed him a few guitar chords and since that time the instrument has not left his golden hands for long. Along the way, Victor also learned to play the sopilka, a Ukrainian folk wind instrument and some piano. Besides a limited introduction to classical guitar, Victor's musical education has been gained from countless hours of self-training and studying guitar theory on his own as well as listening to music.
Victor's early influences were rock performers and bands popular in the former Soviet Union in the 1980's like Scorpions, Queen, Led Zeppelin and several Ukrainian and Russian rock groups. By 17, Victor's precocious musical interests shifted towards jazz and his influences, towards Sting and Pat Metheny.
Victor's entry into a larger circle of musicians began in his late teens, when he met Andriy Panchyshyn, a prominent Ukrainian poet and musician. Thanks to Panchyshyn's support, in August 1991, Victor won Second Prize in the Acoustic Music genre at the largest music festival in Ukraine at the time, "Chervona Ruta." In September of that year, he joined Panchyshyn's acoustic project "Pid Velykym Vozom" (Under the Great Bear). The band recorded two albums "Hromadianyn Doshchu" (The Citizen of Rain) and "Try Khresty" (Three Crosses). This band toured extensively throughout Western Ukraine in the early 90's.
In December 1993, Victor took over lead and rhythm guitar responsibilities with the Lviv, Ukraine-based, underground rock band "Dragline." With "Dragline," Victor performed numerous concerts and recorded several of his compositions, including the national radio hits "Ja Zhyvu v Telefonni Budi" ("I Live In a Phone Booth") and "Tanciuyuchy den'" ("Dancing Day").
In August 1994, with support from Art Center "Sribna Pidkova", Lviv, Ukraine, (Silver Horseshoe), Victor recorded his first solo album "Nichna Zamaliovka" (Night Sketch). This jazz-inflected record featured Victor's first bossa nova original, "Pora, pora..." ("It's time, it's time"). The album sold close to 1,000 copies in Ukraine, Canada and the United States.
In 1995, Victor had a short, but influential, stint with saxophonist Eugene Larin. Since then, Victor has continued to develop his unique musical style, while performing solo concerts throughout Ukraine, Poland and United States.
Victor graduated from Temple University in 2000 with a B.A. in Computer Science and since moving to the Washington DC area, has been "in the shed," writing music and studying. Since October 2003, Victor has participated with other Brazilian-influenced, Washington-area musicians in the "Bossa Nova Project," where he has rediscovered his passion for bossa nova.
Most recently, Victor has been performing in acoustic shows at different venues around Northern Virginia and now of San Francisco area.