Background
Leonid Bortkevich was born in Minsk. His parents noticed their son great talant in his early childhood. He went to School of Music where he played a trumpet.
Leonid Bortkevich was born in Minsk. His parents noticed their son great talant in his early childhood. He went to School of Music where he played a trumpet.
Graduated from School of Music (trumpet), was singing in the choir "Junost'"Junost'.
He graduated from Architectural College and several years worked in this sphere (the biggest cinema theatre in Minsk, Belarus, was built on his project). While studying in college, he was a soloist of a local choir.
In 1970 he was included in group Pesnyari. His popularity was growing day by day.
He has been performing in group Pesnyari for almost half of his life. This group had two periods. The first period was under the direction of Vladimir Mulyavin, but when this great singer and composer passed away, Pesnyari broke into two parts. One of this parts is under the direction of Leonid Bortkevich. He tries to save all traditions in music which were brought to life by Vladimir Mulyavin
Leonid Bortkevich was married three times. His first wife Olga was born in Minsk too. In 1972 she gave a birth to Alexei, the first son. Their marriage lasted 5 years. The second wife Olga Korbut is a famous belorussian gymnast. Their marriage lasted 22 years. In 1978 Richard, Leonid's second son was born. In 1989 Leonid and Olga had to move to the USA to escape Chernobyl disaster. They lived there till 1999 then they came back to Belarus. The third wife name is Tatyana, she is 36 years younger than her husband. She gave a birth to Christian in 2005.