Born in Moscow in 1975,Yuri Kalnits started playing the violin at the age of five,studying with his father.In 1982,he was accepted by the Moscow Central Music School and studied with Galina Turchaninova. From 1983 he attended the Moscow Gnessin Music School for Gifted Children as a pupil of Irina Svetlova and frequently represented the School in concerts both at home and abroad.These included performances as a soloist with the Voronezh and Yaroslavl Symphony Orchestras,playing at the Main Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, representing the School in England and leading and playing solo with the Gnessin Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra in Japan.
In 1992, Yuri began studying at the Royal College of Music (London) with Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky, winning several major College prizes, including the Foundation Scholarship,W.H.Reed,Isolde Menges prizes and Leonard Hirsch Prize for the outstanding string player of the year.In 1994,he won major prizes at the Bromsgrove and Watford Music Festivals in England and received the Yehudi Menuhin Award from the Sudborough Foundation.
These achievements led to invitations to work with many different ensembles and orchestras such as the I Fiamminghi Chamber Orchestra, London Concertante, London Schubert Players,The New Professionals Chamber Orchestra, Schleswig - Holstein Festival Orchestra,Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra etc, performing at the major London venues and in several European cities.
Yuri is regularly invited to participate in festivals throughout the world.Tours have taken him to Russia, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, USA and Hong Kong.He graduated from the RCM in 1996(B Mus Diploma) and was awarded a Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholarship for the postgraduate course,which he completed in 1997.Having finished his studies at the RCM,Yuri was offered a place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's Advanced Instrumental Course under Professor Yfrah Neaman,which he completed in 1998. In 1999/2000 he won KPMG/Martin Musical Scholarship, received the Barthel Prize from the Concordia Foundation and represented the Foundation in concerts in Vietnam and Hong Kong.He also took part in the Harrisons Sisters Trust Festival in England and Young Artist Peninsula Music Festival in USA. Yuri has undertaken masterclasses with, amongst others, Shlomo Mintz, Abram Shtern, Igor Oistrakh, Rudolf Werthen, Edward Grach and Sylvia Rosenberg.