Volodia Mykytka stems from an Ukrainian family of musicians. He is among the most versatile and sought-after violists of our days. As a soloist, as a founding member of the Szymanowski String Quartet and as a chamber music partner he has performed in over 40 countries, in such prestigious venues as the Carnegie Hall in New York, London's Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Teatro Alfa Sao Paolo, the Conservatory in Tel Aviv, Shanghai Symphony Hall, Angel Place in Sydney and Konzerthaus Berlin.. He has participated in renowned music festivals, such as the Schleswig- Holstein Music Festival, Rheingau Musikfestival, London Proms, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and the Kammermusikfest Lockenhaus.

Born in Lviv, Volodia Mykytka started playing the violin at the age of five and attended the music school of the Lviv Conservatory, where he studied with Alexander Weissfeld and with his father Arthur Mykytka. Later he continued his studies at the Music Academy in Warsaw under Janusz Kucharski. From 1995 onwards he expanded his musical horizon, both as soloist and as violist of the Szymanowski Quartet, by studying under the guidance of Hatto Beyerle at the Hanover University of Music.

During his student years Volodia Mykytka received numerous prizes at international competitions such as the “Premio Vittorio Gui” in Florence and “In Memoriam Dimitri Shostakovich“ in Hanover, as well as prizes and audience prizes at both the International Chamber Music Competition in Osaka and in Melbourne.

The Szymanowski Quartet has enjoyed extensive encouragement and support from such musical legends as Isaac Stern, Walter Levin, Gidon Kremer and Alfred Brendel, who invited the quartet to play at the Gewandhaus Leipzig and the Musikverein in Vienna as part of his 80th birthday celebrations. The pre-eminent quartets of the twentieth century, notably the Amadeus Quartet, Guarneri Quartet, Juilliard String Quartet and Emerson String Quartet, were also decisive influences on the interpretative approach and musical path taken by the Szymanowski Quartet. 

Volodia Mykytka is artistic director of the Festival “Szymanowski Quartet and Friends” in Lviv, which was founded in 2008. One of Volodia's most unforgettable memories is that of Vladimir Krainev's appearance at his festival, where the pianist chose the quartet as his partner for the last public concert of his career.

Volodia performed with such eminent chamber music partners as Oleg Maisenberg, Rudolf Buchbinder, Cyprien Katsaris, Agata Szymczewska, Lawrence Power, Boris Andrianov, Nicolas Altstaedt, Paul Meyer, Anthony Pay, Gary Hoffmann and Lily and Mischa Maisky. Furthermore he collaborated with various orchestras such as the Lviv Chamber Orchestra or the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot.

He has been sharing his profound knowledge with up-and-coming young musicians and ensembles for many years, giving masterclasses in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Teaching invitations have taken him to the Mozarteum Salzburg, the Vienna Private Music University, the Zeist Music Days, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Irvine, the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing. He teaches viola and chamber music at the Cologne/Aachen University of Music.

Volodia Mykytka is the recipient of numerous awards, among them, the Szymanowski Prize in 2005, which has, on other occasions, also been awarded to such distinguished musicians as Sir Simon Rattle and Piotr Anderszewski for their exceptional contributions to the perpetuation of the work of Karol Szymanowski. In 2007 he received the Medal of Honor from the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage for his commitment to the recognition and preservation of Polish music and culture.

 

He appears on CDs released by Decca, Hyperion, Hänssler Classic and CAvi-music. In addition, he can be heard on numerous radio recordings for the BBC in the framework of the "New Generation Artists" scheme, as well as for radio stations in Germany, Poland, USA, France, Austria and many other countries.