Bio

Ekaterina Yukhnova graduated from the Belarusian State Academy of Music in Minsk, where she obtained her Master’s degree in “Musical Art” in 2019. In 2022, she earned her specialization diploma in cimbalom with unanimous distinction under the guidance of Luigi Gaggero at the Strasbourg Conservatory. She currently teaches cimbalom there.

Ekaterina is the winner of several first prizes in international competitions, including: the multi-string instruments competition in Pskov (Russia, 2011), the “Blue Bird” Competition in Simferopol (Ukraine, 2013), the multi-string instruments competition in Pushkino (Russia, 2014), the 11th International Solo Cimbalom Competition in Valašské Meziříčí (Czech Republic, 2015), the 22nd International Music Prize “Gaetano Zinetti” in Sanguinetto (Italy, 2017), as well as the international festival-competition “Narva Spring” in the chamber instrumental ensembles category in Tallinn (Estonia, 2018). She performs on stage as a soloist, or within orchestras and ensembles of varying formations in several countries around the world: France, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, Georgia, Italy, Poland, Estonia, Belgium, Switzerland, Vietnam, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, United States of America.

From 2017 to 2021, she performed as a soloist at the State Philharmonic of Belarus. Since 2022, she is a member of the early music ensemble In Arcana, and currently collaborating with the ensembles C Barré, Double Face and Intercolor. Among her recent notable projects are: participation in the new opera Animal Farm by Alexander Raskatov with the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera under the direction of Alexander Soddy; concerts in tribute to Pierre Boulez with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Thomas Adès at the Musikverein in Vienna, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest. In February 2026, NY premiere of Little Solemn Music by György Kurtag with Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Andris Nelson in Carnegie Hall.