Born in Leningrad (current Saint Petersburg), Yuriy Rakevich started his music studies when he was 6 years old, with teacher I. Budylina in his hometown. He studied at Leningrad Special Music School with M. Gantvarg, and then with A. Reznikovsky at the Music College of the city. By the age of 18, he was accepted into the Moscow Conservatory, where he had the opportunity to study with teacher B. Belenky, besides having classes in Italy (with Z. Bronn) during a short stay in the country, and in the United States (with Boston Symphony’s spalla M. Lowe).

He participated in various violin recitals and as a concertmaster in orchestras throughout the world, such as Mozart Nº 5 and Tchaikovsky in Mexico (with S. Carballeda and Bernal Matos, respectively) and Sibelius in the old USSR (with Vassily Sinaisky).

Besides earning a certificate of participation on the II Concurso Internacional de Violino de Henryk Szeryng, Yuriy performed at different recitals in Germany with Alexander Bloch and is a former member of the Tchaikovsky Quartet, in Mexico.

As an assistant concertmaster, he participated at the Maliy’s Symphony Orchestra and on the New Hampshire Symphony, in the United States. He was guest concertmaster at the Moscow Philharmonic and first spalla at the Compania Nacional de Opera de Bellas Artes from Mexico City. Yuriy was also a guest spalla on Adelaid Symphony Orchestra, in Australia. Currently, besides his work for more than 24 years as an associate concertmaster on OSESP, he is a member of the Glazunov Quartet.

Yuriy plays a violin made by French Luthier C. A. Miremont in 1883.