Born in 1974 into a family of musicians in Kiev (Ukraine), Andrei Pushkarev began learning to play an instrument - the piano - when he was still small. At the age of 14, however, he realised his childhood dream and commenced percussion studies with Professor Aleksandr Blinov, later joining his class at the National Academy of Music in Kiev.



Andrei Pushkarev started writing his own compositions while he was still a student. As time went on, the vibraphone became his favourite instrument - a real solo instrument with its own range of expressive colour and tone.



In 1995 the New Names of Ukraine Foundation awarded Andrei Pushkarev a prize for his outstanding work as a solo vibraphonist.



Andrei Pushkarev has been a permanent memeber of Gidon Kremer's Kremerata Baltica since 1999 and was, for example, the solo timpanist on its recording "After Mozart", which was awarded a Grammy in 2001 and an ECHO prize in 2002.



Andrei Pushkarev has also made a name for himself through his arrangements of works for vibraphone, solo violin and chamber orchestra and has performed them with Gidon Kremer at London's Wigmore Hall, in St Stephans Cathedral in Vienna and in the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, for example.



Andrei Pushkarev has also established a considerable international reputation as a soloist, which, in April 2005, was acknowledged with an award from the European cultural foundation Pro Europa.



In recent years Andriy Pushkarev has been collaborating with such famous musicians as Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuriy Bashmet, Michel Portal, Martha Argerich, Roman Kofman, Yurii Timerkanov, Gabriela Montero, Valdemar Nelsson, Giya Kancheli, Yekaterina Skanavi, Mario Brunello, Oleh Maizenberg, Maksim Rysanov and many others.