{{Short description|Ukrainian conductor and composer (1936–2026)}} {{Family name hatnote|Isaakovych|Kofman|lang=Eastern Slavic}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Use British English|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox person | image = Roman_Kofman.jpg | alt = Black and white studio publicity shot of a clean-shaven, elderly, half-smiling man with short, receding, greying hair, with a left parting. He looks askance from under dark brows, one brow being raised, as if to make a point. | caption = | native_name = Роман Кофман | native_name_lang = uk | birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|6|15|df=y}} | birth_place = Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | death_date = {{Death date and age|2026|2|24|1936|6|15|df=y}} | death_place = Israel | occupation = {{ubl| Conductor | Violinist | Composer | Music educator }} | organizations = {{ubl| Kyiv Chamber Orchestra | Kyiv Conservatory | Beethoven Orchester Bonn }} | awards = {{ubl| People's Artist of Ukraine | Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany }} }}
'''Roman (Avraham) Isaakovych Kofman''' ({{langx|uk|Роман (Аврaам) Ісаaкович Кофман}}, 15 June 1936 – 24 February 2026) was a Ukrainian conductor, violinist, composer, music educator and People's Artist of Ukraine (2003). He was internationally known as concertmaster, co-founder and later artistic director of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, and as Generalmusikdirektor of the Beethoven Orchester Bonn from 2003 to 2008, when he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He was principal conductor of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine from 2012.
==Life and career== Roman (Avraham) Isaakovych Kofman was born <!-- to Jewish parents --> on 15 June 1936 in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR.<ref name="Mez1" /> He graduated <!-- in 1961 --> from the State Conservatory (now the Ukrainian National Academy of Music) with a degree in violin, and a degree in conducting<!-- in 1971-->.<ref name="Mez1" /><ref name="Bumann" /> He soon worked also in the Soviet Union and especially regularly at the Warsaw Opera, but was restricted from work in Western countries from 1973 to 1989. From 1963 he worked as a concertmaster of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra that he co-founded.<ref name="moto">{{cite news |url=https://moto-perpetuo.com/roman-kofman-obituary/ |title=Roman Kofman, Ukrainian conductor and cultural bridge to Germany, dies at 89 |date=26 February 2026 |access-date=2 March 2026}}</ref>
As a conductor he performed with more than 70 orchestras and ensembles from around the world, in Italy, Austria, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United States.<ref name="Mez1" /> He conducted the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk, and the Munich Philharmonic.<ref name="Rel1">{{cite web |title=Тиждень високої класики з Романом Кофманом |url=http://relax.ua/afisha/nedelya-s-romanom-kofmanom-2011/lang/ua |website=Relax |publisher=Premium Group Ukraine |access-date=12 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928014012/http://relax.ua/afisha/nedelya-s-romanom-kofmanom-2011/lang/ua |archive-date=28 September 2015 |language=uk |date=16 June 2011 |trans-title=Week of High Classics with Roman Kofman}}</ref>
Between 2003 and 2008 Kofman worked in Germany as the Generalmusikdirektor in Bonn, leading the Beethoven Orchester Bonn<ref name="Bumann">{{cite news |last=Bumann |first=Ulrich |url=http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/lokales/kultur/Dirigieren-ist-eine-dunkle-Sache-article9054.html |title=Dirigieren ist eine dunkle Sache |newspaper=General-Anzeiger (Bonn) |date=27 February 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203003157/http://www.general-anzeiger-bonn.de/lokales/kultur/Dirigieren-ist-eine-dunkle-Sache-article9054.html |archive-date=3 December 2015 |access-date=27 February 2026}}</ref><ref name="Hartmann">{{cite news |last1=Hartmann |first1=Bernhard |title=Beethoven Orchester spielt erstes Konzert in der Bonner Oper |url=https://ga.de/news/kultur-und-medien/beethoven-orchester-spielt-erstes-konzert-in-der-bonner-oper_aid-43554781 |access-date=9 November 2025 |work=General-Anzeiger |date=1 November 2017 |language=de |trans-title=Beethoven Orchestra plays its first concert at the Bonn Opera}}</ref> and the Bonn Opera,<ref name="moto" /><ref name="Mez1" /> in his first season there conducting Alban Berg's ''Lulu'' and Verdi's ''Macbeth''.<ref name="Bumann" /> He programmed all of the Shostakovich symphonies during his tenure.<ref name="Hartmann" />
<!-- {{Asof|2025}}, Kofman was a professor of conducting at the National Music Academy of Ukraine. -->Kofman was the principal conductor of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra from 1990 until his death in 2026.<ref name="moto" /><ref name="Bumann" /><ref name="Nat1">{{cite web |title=Київський камерний оркестр |url=http://www.filarmonia.com.ua/54 |publisher=National Philharmonic of Ukraine |access-date=9 November 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930154047/http://www.filarmonia.com.ua/54 |archive-date=30 September 2011 |language=uk |date=2008 |trans-title=Kyiv Chamber Orchestra}}</ref> He led the symphony orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine from 2012.<ref name="Mez1" /> Kofman also composed film music. In 2011, he published a literary book containing two short autobiographical novels.<ref name="Mez1" />
Kofman died on 24 February 2026, at the age of 89.<ref name="Mez1">{{cite news |title=Renowned Ukrainian Conductor Roman Kofman Passes Away |url=https://mezha.net/eng/bukvy/renowned-ukrainian-conductor-roman-kofman-passes-away/ |access-date=26 February 2026 |agency=Mezha |date=25 February 2026}}</ref><ref name="moto" />
==Awards== Kofman was awarded the titles of Merited Artist of Ukraine and People's Artist of Ukraine. He was also awarded <!-- the Order of Merit III degree, and --> the Officer’s Cross First Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. He received the Echo Klassik award in 2007, and in 2011 was shortlisted for the Shevchenko National Prize.<ref name="Mez1" />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite journal |last1=Litvynova|first1=О.U. |title=Кофман Роман |url=https://esu.com.ua/article-394 |website=Encyclopedia of Modern Ukraine |date=2014 |access-date=|ref=none|language=uk|trans-title = Roman Kofman}}
==External links== * {{Discogs artist|Roman Kofman}} * {{IMDb name|16704405}}
{{Authority control|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kofman, Roman}} Category:1936 births Category:2026 deaths Category:21st-century Ukrainian conductors (music) Category:21st-century Ukrainian male musicians Category:21st-century violinists Category:Academic staff of the Ukrainian National Academy of Music Category:Jewish Ukrainian musicians Category:Ukrainian National Academy of Music alumni Category:Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Category:Recipients of the title of People's Artist of Ukraine Category:Ukrainian classical violinists Category:Ukrainian male conductors (music) Category:Ukrainian music educators