YURI ISHCHENKO (b. 1938 in Kherson) was a prominent composer and professor of composition and orchestration at the National Music Academy of Ukraine. In his four decades of teaching, his students included Ukrainian composers Alla Zahaykevych and Volodymyr Runchak.

Ishchenko composed in almost every genre, including operas, symphonies, concertos, and chamber music, expanding on the traditions of his teachers, Borys Liatoshynsky and Andrii Shtoharenko.