- July 15, 2019
- Art
- Ekaterina Gordeeva
The “Dashing Nineties” are gone, leaving behind an unusual aftertaste. “Shooters” between youth groups, criminal showdowns right on the streets, flashy girlish outfits and music that is understandable to unspoiled people. Singer Petliura, whose biography is known to fans of chanson, left an indelible mark on the music of the 90s.
Childhood
The active, lively little boy was born on April 14, 1974. The youngest son, his sister Lolita was already growing up in the family, two years older than the newborn Yurochka. The singer's full name is Yuri Vladislavovich Barabash, Petlyura is his stage name.
The boy grew up very active, poorly controlled, and refused to obey his parents. The father, a military man, could cope with his son, but the mother, a Philharmonic worker, was completely unable to cope with Yura. At first, the family lived in Kamchatka, when Lolita was diagnosed with a serious illness, the parents and children moved to Stavropol. Lolita needed a warm climate, according to doctors, so the family had to change their place of residence.
Yura was 10 years old when her father died. The death of his parent was a trauma for the boy, who was not known for his restraint. The biography of Yuri Barabash talks about how the child began to behave after the death of his father. Such serious problems arose at school and in relationships with peers that the mother completely lost control over her son. For his hooligan disposition, Yuri received the nickname Petliura, in honor of the famous political figure and military man.
The boy's mother was regularly called to school. Yura did not listen to his teachers at all, started smoking early, and encouraged his classmates to do negative things. Studying did not attract young Petliura; after graduating from eighth grade, the future singer left school. The management and teachers breathed a sigh of relief, and the young man began an active search for himself.
Career
Victor considers the beginning of his career to be performances in a club at one of the Simferopol factories. The guys were invited there by his leader, who accidentally heard them on the street. The boys were provided with premises and equipment for rehearsals, and they took part in all club events.
Gradually the group's repertoire expanded, and the young team gained popularity in the city. After school, the whole group decided to continue their studies at a music school, and in the evenings they played in the best restaurants in the city, earning quite decent money at that time.
But this was not enough for Victor - he wanted to make music on a completely different level. He begins to raise funds for the release of his debut album and select songs for it. This long-awaited event took place in 1999. The album “Blue-Eyed” includes his most favorite compositions. The small edition was immediately sold out, but it did not bring super popularity to the author.
Inspired by success, a year later Victor released a new album, “You Can’t Get Back.” With such a repertoire, the group begins to actively tour and perform at music competitions and festivals. Listeners like the discs, but not Petlyura himself. They recorded in a studio equipped for performing pop or rock and roll.
Then he decides to open his own studio and soon makes it a reality. Now ideal working conditions have been created for the team. By that time, it already had a permanent staff of real professionals, where everyone knows and loves their job. Petlyura believes that people are the main secret of his success.
Currently, the artist's discography includes 13 full-length albums. He successfully tours throughout the CIS and foreign countries and is one of the most fashionable and sought-after chanson performers. His studio is also popular. Many famous Russian performers have already worked on it.
Personal life
Already in his early youth, Victor was very popular among girls. And not only thanks to the guitar. He was very charming and at the same time had a strong masculine character, which allowed him to always achieve his goals. He often fell in love, but preferred serious long-term relationships.
He was not yet 20 when he experienced a real tragedy - almost before his eyes, in the restaurant where Victor worked, a stray bullet from gang violence, which often happened in the 90s, took the life of his bride. The girl died just a few weeks before the planned wedding.
For many months, Victor plunged into severe depression. And only the support of the team and responsibility towards it forced him to return to creativity and normal life. Although this tragedy left a deep scar on Victor's heart, after a while it thawed.
Now the artist is already in his second marriage. The first union broke up shortly after the birth of his son, and Victor prefers not to talk about the reasons for the breakup. His second wife, a former financier, completely took upon herself the organization of tours and concerts of her husband and his team. She is his right hand and faithful ally.
With his second wife
They have no children together, but Natalya’s son from her first marriage quickly found a common language with Victor’s own son from his first wife. The boys often spend time with their father, and he is happy that he does not have to be torn between them. But his busy schedule does not allow him to stay at home as often as he would like.
By the way, the musician is often confused with his former colleague, Yuri Barabash, who performed in the early 90s under the pseudonym “Petlyura”. That musician died at a young age, crashing on one of the flights. And Victor has a real last name, although sometimes he even has to show his passport to prove it to particularly distrustful journalists.
Everyone is familiar with the words of Viktor Petliura’s songs. Of course, they were never hits, but they were heard by many. He was loved and listened to; this was a certain category of people. For everyone, the cause of death of Yuri Barabash
became sudden.
Yuri Vladislavovich was born in 1974, on April 14 in the Stavropol Territory. The whole country knew him under the pseudonym Petlyura. One person combined a sad look and heartfelt songs. Everyone listened to the songs and wondered: who is this man? He was probably sitting or sitting and why this particular surname. Even now there are no fewer questions.
Yura never chased fame and did not seek meetings with journalists, nor did he attend noisy events. He simply performed his songs. The singer's childhood took place in Stavropol, a city that was the same as all cities. Much later, Yu. Cherny will dedicate a song to Petliura about his small homeland - Stavropol.
Yurino’s generation is people who are a little over 40 years old. They survived perestroika and live in new times. They accepted the change of power, and Petliura simply sang and did not pay attention to his surroundings. He sang mostly songs that weren’t his own. She herself wrote 2-3 maximum. He performed. He sang so soulfully that it was impossible not to listen to his voice. Sometimes sad, sometimes happy.
The first album “Benya the Raider” was recorded at home. At the time, it was cool to insert computer commentary during music. During this period, on the rise of Petlyura and Shatunov, they could have been confused. Therefore, the words were inserted into the music: “This is not Shatunov, this is Petlyura.”
Yuri Petlyura’s style and manner of performing songs appeared immediately. The album “Little Girl” appears on professional equipment. Some of the songs are new, some are covered from previous albums. It is released into the world on cassettes and discs. People are buying up again.
I learned how to attract new viewers with the help of the composition “Rain”. It was performed as a slow dance at discos in villages and children's camps. The girl’s boys listened and wanted to hear other songs by Yuri Barabash. In his songs, he touched on themes of prison, army, relationships with betrayal, etc.
In 1995, Yuri Sevostyanov invested in Petlyura, a Russian chanson. The compositions included songs from streets, courtyards, night restaurants and kitchens. We started filming a video for “Fast Train.” He has already moved to Moscow and works day and night. The album “Sad Guy” is being prepared for release. Petliura's career is taking off and suddenly death . Cause of death of Yuri Barabash
banal. Car accident. He sat behind the wheel about 3-4 times. In the accident, everyone escaped with injuries; he died alone on the night of September 27, 1996. The musician was buried in Moscow at the Khovanskoye cemetery.
Barabash Yu.V. (04/14/1974 - 09/27/1996) - a popular performer of Russian chanson at the dawn of the 90s, known to the audience as Petlyura. Born in a land of unique landscapes, in the very “heart of the South” called the Stavropol Territory. Petlyura spent his childhood and teenage life in his homeland. He was brought up in a prosperous and intelligent family. Yuri's mother was an exemplary worker at the local puppet theater, after studying at the regional philharmonic, and his father was an officer in the USSR Navy. Yuri is the second child in the family, two years younger than his sister Lolita. The future author-performer of chanson was remembered for his rather difficult character, and at times was an uncontrollable child. It was for his restlessness and hooliganism that his peers awarded the guy the nickname Petlyura. This nickname had a disapproving connotation, because Simon Petliura was an ill-wisher for the USSR during the Civil War. Since his teenage years, the guy dreamed of musical achievements, so Yuri’s main hobby was music. There was no opportunity to attend a music school, but he himself mastered playing the guitar at a professional level.
Creative process
The biography of Yuri (Petliura) Barabash says that his mother gave her son a guitar. The boy turned 14 years old, the future artist was completely out of control. The woman hoped that her son would become interested in music. The mother turned out to be right, Yura began to learn to play the guitar. The guy did not attend music school, Petlyura is self-taught. It soon became clear that the young hooligan had an ear for music and an unusual voice. According to Yuri’s biography, Petliura wrote the first songs on his own, and then performed them on the street, accompanying himself on the guitar. The guy quickly gained respect among the local kids, rumors about the talented teenager spread throughout the city.
Victor Petlyura. Biography
The years of the popular performer's life have always been filled with a love of music. As a teenager, he created a group, with which he performed his own songs, mainly lyrical themes. Their popularity grew, and soon Viktor Petliura and his team were invited to the famous plant. This is how his story as an artist began.
The musician graduated from music school in 1990, and from secondary school in 1991. After that, he and his comrades entered the music school. Petlyura was devoted to music with all his soul and devoted all his free time to it. Together with their comrades, they rehearsed for several hours every day. Such diligence and dedication were soon rewarded. Victor was invited to the Simferopol restaurant to take the place of guitarist and vocalist. In addition, the musician began teaching and taught those interested how to play the acoustic guitar.
The beginning of the way
Petlyura’s biography mentions the first home recordings of songs. One such recording reached Andrei Razin, the then producer of the “Tender May” group. The man appreciated the abilities of young Barabash and the similarity of his voice with Yura Shatunov, the vocalist of the group. Razin invited Petliura to participate in the project, at first the guy performed songs under the pseudonym Yuri Orlov. However, after some time, the young, ambitious Petlyura, whose biography is replete with numerous interesting facts, left Razin’s wing.
Next meeting
Time passed, and on Petliura’s creative path he met composer Konstantin Gubin. Under the leadership of Gubin, the album “Benya the Raider” was recorded, released in 1994. Before this, fans of Petlyura, whose biography testifies to this, had the opportunity to enjoy the album, which was recorded at home.
Gubin became the founder of the popularity of the young singer. The composer took the material to a Moscow recording studio. Soon songs began to sound from every “iron”.
Despite his emerging popularity, Petlyura himself often experienced financial difficulties. Sometimes the guy spent the night on the street, because there was no money to pay for rented housing, and went hungry for several days.
Biography
Yuri Barabash's date of birth is April 14, 1974. He became the second child in the family, after his sister Lolita.
Childhood
The first years of the singer's life were spent in Kamchatka. My father was a military man, and my mother was a creative person: she worked in a puppet theater, and then in a philharmonic society. As a child, Yuri was a disobedient, uncontrollable and very active child, often fighting with other children. Later, the family moved to Stavropol - Lolita was diagnosed with a serious illness, for the successful treatment of which a warm climate was recommended.
Studying did not arouse much interest in the boy; moreover, due to his hooligan lifestyle, he had many problems with school. After the death of his father in 1984, he began to be considered a difficult teenager. He started smoking early, and my mother was constantly called to meetings with the director.
I left school after 8th grade, but for a long time I couldn’t decide what to do now. Then, at the age of 14, the boy’s mother gave him a guitar. Yuri taught himself to play and began to write his first songs, which he performed in courtyards and entrances. Due to the theme of the songs, many thought that the young performer had a difficult childhood or even spent time in prison - the singer was so charismatic.
A close friend of Barabash told one incident that happened to the musician. One day, while waiting for a trolleybus at a stop, Yuri took out a guitar and began to sing. He was immediately surrounded by people who wanted to listen to the songs. The transport along the route left empty every time: no one wanted to go. Only when Barabash himself boarded the trolleybus did the grateful listeners disperse.
Invitation to show business
The artist's popularity slowly grew: he soon began recording his songs at home. One such recording was heard by Andrei Razin, at that time the producer of the popular group “Tender May”. Razin appreciated the peculiarities of the timbre of the aspiring singer’s voice and its similarity with the voice of Yuri Shatunov, the vocalist of “Tender May,” and then invited Barabash to his studio. The young man even auditioned as a soloist of a popular band under the pseudonym Yuri Orlov.
However, their joint career did not work out: the ambitious Barabash did not want to be just a copy of Shatunov, and many concepts about the artist’s image ran counter to Razin’s opinion, so the union soon fell apart. Yuri took the failure hard, but soon on his creative path the musician met composer Konstantin Gubin, in collaboration with whom the semi-professional album “Benya the Raider” was recorded. Before this, the musician already had experience recording songs in a home studio - the first such album was “Sing, Zhigan” in 1993.
According to Gubin, none of the participants in the recording expected the popularity that would fall on Barabash. By pure chance, Gubin, preparing to go to the capital on business, took that same recording with him and took it to the recording studio. Soon songs began to be heard from everywhere.
According to the musician’s mother, Andrei Razin did not disappear from Yuri’s life forever. After the release of the first albums, Razin tried to renew his working relationship with the performer, but was refused. The next day, people in uniform knocked on the door of Barabash’s apartment - employees of the military registration and enlistment office. They took the guy's passport, promising to send him to the hottest spot. After this, it was decided to go to Moscow. By the way, the documents will only be returned in 1996 - shortly before his death.
Possessing popularity in some circles, the young man receives various job offers: for example, for some time Barabash, having already become Petliura by that time, sings in nightclubs. In 1995, the album “Little One” was recorded, which did not bring the expected success. Yuri experienced constant financial difficulties. While living in Zelenograd, the guy met “dishonest” young people - criminal elements. The life of a musician of this period resembles a kaleidoscope: a constant change of scenery. Sometimes the lack of money was so serious that the singer slept at train stations and lived under a bridge.
Popularity
I was lucky to meet Yuri Sevostyanov, who heads the Master Sound studio. Sevostyanov practically ensured all of Petliura’s further success. He offered a contract for as many as five albums and organized his first solo performances. In addition to improvements in his professional life, Barabash also underwent pleasant changes in his personal life:
- Sevostyanov rented decent housing for the singer;
- insisted on moving to my mother’s capital;
- began to pay the musician a very decent salary - about a thousand dollars a month;
- An album was recorded that was recognized as the best in the musician’s career - “Fast Train”.
Even Russian Radio, which had virtually no dealings with performers working in the chanson genre, took the compositions into rotation. On the wave of popularity, the next disc, “Sad Guy,” was released. And the last album, which the singer miraculously managed to finish three days before his death, was released after his sudden death. Many of the musician’s friends consider Petliura’s latest work to be a kind of requiem. The lines became prophetic: “The heart melts like ice, the strength leaves the body, God calls me to heaven. Does this really happen?
After the death of Yuri Barabash in 1999, another performer in the chanson style appears on the stage under the name Viktor Petlyura. Many fans of Barabash were perplexed: does the young singer really want to promote himself at the expense of the name of his famous predecessor? In fact, Victor is Petlyura according to his passport. Having existed for more than 10 years under this name, in 2020, the performer, who has released about 12 albums, decides to take the pseudonym Doreen. According to him, the constant confusion with the famous performer of yard songs tired him very much.
DTV channel program “How the idols left. Yuri Barabash."
Famous singer and composer Viktor Petliura was born in the city of Simferopol in 1975 on October 30. Since childhood, he had a craving for music. He first picked up a guitar at the age of eleven and has not parted with it to this day. At first, he sang yard songs and delighted only close and casual listeners with his creativity.
Gaining popularity
Petlyura’s biography says that real popularity came to the young performer after meeting Yuri Sevostyanov, who heads the Master Sound studio. The man took up the task of organizing Petlyura’s concerts, rented normal housing for the guy, began paying decent wages, and moved Yuri’s mother to Moscow.
The album “Sad Guy” was released under the leadership of Sevostyanov, and the last one, “Farewell Album,” was recorded three days before Petlyura’s death.
Regular version
The biography of Petliura, whose life and death raised a lot of questions, will tell fans of the singer about the circumstances of his death.
The tragedy occurred on Sevastopolsky Avenue in Moscow on the night of September 28, 1996. A BMW car was rushing along the highway at high speed, suddenly flew into the oncoming lane and crashed into a pole. One of the guys in the car was thrown out of the car. This guy was Petliura, who hit his head on the asphalt, the singer died on the spot.
It is unknown whether Yuri himself or one of his friends was driving. The police (at that time the police were still called that), an ambulance and a film crew from the “Road Patrol” program arrived at the scene of the tragedy. Petliura was lying face down, so it was not possible to identify the popular singer. The passengers in the car suffered minor bruises. According to a police representative, the youth was intoxicated.
Criminal version
Among supporters of this version, there was an opinion that Yuri Barabash was driving someone else’s car. However, most of the singer’s fans are confident that Petlyura himself purchased the BMW, as indicated by the driver’s license the guy received shortly before purchasing the car. On the fateful evening, the company went to a restaurant where the singer was invited to perform by a local crime boss. The car turned out to be “stuffed”; it contained an explosive device intended for the singer’s “cool” friend. Witnesses heard a loud bang before the accident occurred. The veracity of the criminal version has not been proven.
Personal life
The personal life of Viktor Petlyura is shrouded in mystery and legends. His fans tell a tragic story about Victor’s beloved girl, whose name was Alena. The young people not only planned to get married, but also planned to work together. But shortly before the wedding, Alena died tragically. She was killed by a stray bullet during a gang fight in front of Victor's eyes. At the time of death, the couple was at a table in one of the cafes. The tragic death of her beloved plunged Petliura into depression for a long time, from which creativity helped her get out of it.
Viktor Petliura with his wife
Whether this story is true or created to shroud the performer’s name in some kind of romantic aura is not known for certain. But now Viktor Petlyura is married. His current wife Natalya is his second wife. The first one, with whom the son Evgeniy was born, was also named Natalya. The current wife has a son from her first marriage. His name is Nikita. Both boys got along well with each other, because they are the same age. Victor and Natalya do not have a child together.
Victor Petlyura now
Petlyura’s wife Natalya is a financier by training and works as her husband’s concert director. She speaks excellent French, since her second education is at the Institute of Foreign Languages.
Mystic
Whether to believe some of the events described in this subsection is up to the reader to decide. When talking about the death of Petlyura, one cannot ignore them.
According to the singer’s mother, on the day of his death, Yuri put on a cross that once belonged to Igor Talkov. He was shot backstage before his own concert, the cross fell into the hands of Alexei Blokhin, and he gave it to Petlyura. Yuri was delighted with the unexpected gift, but the musician’s girlfriend asked Petliura to remove the cross of the murdered Talkov. Yuri listened to Olga—that’s the girl’s name—by wearing a gift on the day of his death.
Yuri treated death very strangely, as if he was playing with it. During his childhood, the boy composed songs and sang them to the tune of a funeral march, scaring his own mother.
In the song “You Stand Alone by the Maple Tree,” included in the latest album, there is the following line: “You came to him in green, your mother opened it to you in black. You understood everything without words.”
The words became prophetic; after Petliura’s death, his bride Olya came to her failed mother-in-law in green clothes.
And one more point related to the singer’s death. The book “Legends of Chanson,” written by Yuri, was published after Petliura passed away. On the cover, Yuri hugged Mikhail Krug, the singers were friends. The circle was very afraid of this after the death of Barabash. About what happened to the popular chanson performer later. Almost everyone knows. The circle was killed.
Petliura's funeral
The singer's funeral service took place in the Church of Saints Boris and Gleb in Moscow. The mother specifically went there to find out whether the funeral service was possible in the capital or whether it was necessary to take the body to Stavropol.
Yuri was buried in a closed coffin, because the body was mutilated due to the accident. On his final journey, the singer was given three crosses: the one he received at the time of baptism, the one given during the funeral service, and the same one donated by Alexei Blokhin. Yuri Barabash is buried at the Khovanskoye cemetery in Moscow.
Victor Petlyura now
In 2020, Petlyura went on a long tour of the Krasnodar Territory with the program “Everything Will Come True.”
Having completed his southern tour, Viktor Petliura began using the pseudonym Viktor Dorin. All because of confusion with musician Yuri Barabash, who performed under the Petlyura brand. Plus, a new stage has begun in Victor’s creative life, so let’s start a new life with a clean slate! Victor Dorin - I will choose you (LYRICS VIDEO)
On February 13, 2020, the single “I will choose you” was released. After its release, Victor went on tour with solo concerts.
In 1974, when Yurka was born, his city was no different from hundreds of other Soviet cities. Factories, factories, five universities, two theaters, three museums... But still, there was something special in this city, scorched by the sun. Later, many years later, Slava Cherny will write him a song. About the Motherland. About Stavropol region. And this song will not be far-fetched, not one bit. Soulful, heartfelt. And well sung.
How nice it is to return to where you spent your childhood. Where it was fun and not so much, where every dog knows you, where you no longer have to prove anything to anyone. Go back to the past...
The generation that is now just over twenty, Yurino’s generation, lived in an unusual, strange time. However, what generation in this country cannot be said about?
But still, fate showed them socialism, and perestroika, and even new times, the names of which have not yet been invented... Brezhnev's stagnation, the rapid replacement of Andropov with Chernenko, the arrival of Gorbachev - Yurka's fellow countryman, and, finally, Yeltsin... Ah, the most The main thing is that the consciousness of these boys did not have time to ossify, they easily accepted the change of times. But, however, Petliura had no time for politics. He's a singer.
Petlyura... Yura - Petlyura... Here's a rhyme for you. In a song, after all, the words should be coherent... By the way, he almost didn’t write songs, except perhaps “Good people, please help me...” and two or three more... But as for the performance, he had no equal here. He sang about captivity, about human feelings and experiences, he told stories from our lives. It’s sad, unbearably sad, and sometimes, on the contrary, joyful... And always truthful and sincere. Only he could sing like that.
His first album, Benya the Raider, was recorded in his home studio. Back then it was fashionable to comment on something between songs using computer voices. “This is not Shatunov, this is Petlyura,” says someone on this album, so that there is probably no confusion... Indeed, an ignorant person could confuse the two Yuras. The voices are somehow elusively similar. But that was only the beginning. Our Yura immediately had his own face, his own style (as they say now). And during the playback of the song “Wait, Steam Locomotive,” some guy told us that he, “the producer of this album thanks his wife and best friends, Vitalik and Alekha, for their help”... Vitalik and Lekha were probably satisfied. Audio pirates too. With their help, the album spread across the vast expanses of our country. That's how it was accepted then. Everything was just beginning.
When the opportunity arose to record the songs on more professional equipment, they decided that Petliura should cover some songs from “Raider...”. And so they did. In addition, we selected and recorded several more compositions. This is how the album “Little One” was born. It was released again on audio cassettes and then on compacts. And again people liked it.
The song “Rain” then began to be played in discos as a slow song. Rural clubs and pioneer camps were shocked by such frankness. Young people listened, young people thought, and not only young people... People wanted to know what else this guy sings? And he sang about how difficult it is in prison, how lonely it is in the army, especially when your beloved cheated on you. About the tram and about birds, which, unlike people, live in pairs. About dark water and about the wall. About Alyoshka and the fact that I really don’t want to die...
Best of the day
In 1995, Yuri Sevostyanov also appeared in the life of Yuri Barabash, who was not afraid to invest money in “Russian Chanson”.
Yes, time gave birth to this strange phrase.
A mixture of criminal lyrics and yard songs, music of restaurants, kitchens and entrances, songs of the zone. It has become easier to work with Master Sound. They immediately offered to sign a contract for several years in advance. We started writing albums and shot a video. Everything was adult...
First in line was the "Fast Train". Perhaps Yurina’s most famous work. This album was released on both cassettes and CDs. Petliurina’s songs could then be heard even on the new “Russian Radio”...
Could he have dreamed about this a few years ago? Although, who knows... The ways of the Lord are mysterious.
Moscow. He already lived here. And he worked and worked... He sang and recorded with ecstasy... He looked for new facets in his work. I tried to sing pure lyrics, then again returned to Zhigan songs.
Following “Fast Train,” the album “Sad Guy” was being prepared for release. It has already been advertised on television. “Guess for yourself what he’s sad about, but I don’t even dare to guess about it”...
Maybe someone would feel dizzy from this... But not him...
And suddenly death... A car accident on the night of August 27-28, 1996 on Sevastopol Avenue...
It was almost his first time behind the wheel and, apparently, he lost control. Everyone escaped with injuries, except him...
They say that at first they could not identify him. And only people who watched “Road Patrol” on Russian TV recognized Yura.
Yuri Barabash is buried at the Khovanskoye cemetery in Moscow.
Barabash Yu.V. (04/14/1974 - 09/27/1996) - a popular performer of Russian chanson at the dawn of the 90s, known to the audience as Petlyura. Born in a land of unique landscapes, in the very “heart of the South” called the Stavropol Territory. Petlyura spent his childhood and teenage life in his homeland. He was brought up in a prosperous and intelligent family. Yuri's mother was an exemplary worker at the local puppet theater, after studying at the regional philharmonic, and his father was an officer in the USSR Navy. Yuri is the second child in the family, two years younger than his sister Lolita. The future author-performer of chanson was remembered for his rather difficult character, and at times was an uncontrollable child. It was for his restlessness and hooliganism that his peers awarded the guy the nickname Petlyura. This nickname had a disapproving connotation, because Simon Petliura was an ill-wisher for the USSR during the Civil War. Since his teenage years, the guy dreamed of musical achievements, so Yuri’s main hobby was music. There was no opportunity to attend a music school, but he himself mastered playing the guitar at a professional level.