Yuri Ivan completed his formal music training in Ukraine where his primary teachers were Jarema Skybinky and Mykola Kolessa. Mr. Ivan also studied with Yuri Simonov, Adalberto Tonnini, Vjacheslav Blinov and Yuri Lutsiv. After graduating from The State Conservatory of Music in Lviv, he served from 1996 to 2000 as an Associate Conductor at The State Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where he conducted productions including The Marriage of Figaro, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Carmen, Pagliacci, Eugene Oneguine, Die Fledermaus, La Fille Mal Gardée, Giselle, Don Quixote, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. In 2001, Mr. Ivan was named Artistic Director of Trans-Carpathian Philharmonic, co-founded the Uzhgorod Youth Orchestra, and the Young Virtuosi music festival in Ukraine. He also appeared with LVMI Opera, the National Symphony-Pops Orchestra of Ukraine, the National Broadcasting Company Orchestra of Ukraine and the Northern Hungarian Symphony. Mr. Ivan completed his doctoral studies in conducting at the U of M where he studied with Akira Mori and Craig Kirchhoff. Currently, he is the Music Director at St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church. Mr. Ivan is active in the artistic life of the Twin Cities metro area and beyond, collaborating with a range of artistic and educational organizations. He serves as principal conductor for the Metropolitan Ballet and recently conducted Minnesota Concert Opera and Twin Cities Fringe Opera productions and collaborated with the Eau Claire Chamer Orchesta, WI.  In 2010  Mr. Ivan founded the annual Byzantine Choral Festival of Minnesota. Since 2006, he has served as Music Director of the Linden Hills Chamber Orchestra.  and since 2007 as Music Director of the Kenwood Symphony Orchestra.