Musicologist, Professor of the Tchaikovsky State Conservatoire Moscow, Doctor of Arts, a Winner of the State Prize of Russia, Honored Worker of Arts of the Russian Federation, a Member of the Composer’s Union of Russia, a Member of Academia Europaea, London.

Born on August 14, 1932 in Ryazan, Russia. Graduated from Ryazan Regional College (Uchilishe) of Music.

In 1949-1954 studied at the Department of Theory and Composition of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire. The Diploma Work was done under the supervision of Professor Igor Vladimirovich Sposobin.

Graduated from the Aspirantura (Masters) of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire in 1960 (class — Sergey Sergeyevich Bogatyrev).

The Ph. D. Degree thesis presentation in 1975, published earlier as a monograph Contemporary Aspects of Harmony in Music of Prokofiev (Musika Publishers: Moscow, 1967).

The Doctorate Degree thesis presentation in 1977, published earlier as a monograph Essays in Contemporary Harmony (Musika Publishers: Moscow, 1974).

Since 1963 he was a member of the Composers' Union of Russia, elected to a number of committees of the Union, also was a member of the Board of the Composer’s Union of Moscow.

Passed away on April 24, 2003 in Moscow. Buried at Troekurovo Cemetery (Moscow).

Appeared with lectures and presentations at a number of conferences in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Minsk, Tashkent, Kazan, Rostov-on-the-Don and many other cities.

Appeared with lectures and presentations abroad in Berlin, Leipzig, Cologne, Stuttgart, Dresden, Reinsberg, Passau, Warsaw, Vienna, Mödling, Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Basel, Sophia, Riga, Vilnjus, Tallinn, Bucharest, Helsinki, London, Glasgo, Bristol, Beijin, New Orlean, Phoenix (Arizona) and Santa Barbara.

Since 1960 taught at the Department of Theory of Music of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, since 1972 as an assistant professor, since 1983 as a Professor. Worked for a number of years as a Professor of Harmony and Theory at Moscow Merzlyakovsky College, branch of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire and at the Central Special Music School (until 1991).

Kholopov taught all the disciplines of music theory: harmony, form, counterpoint, instrumentation, history of theoretical concepts of music, and theory of contemporary composition.

Theory and history of harmony and musical form, contemporary music, history of musical science.

More than 700 works were published, more than 300 remain unpublished. Scholar works were published in Russia and abroad, books and essays in Bulgaria, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Vietnam, China; articles were published in Germany, Bulgaria, Great Britain, United States, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Romania, China and Spain.

The school of Kholopov comprises more than 80 students. They belong to several generations of renowned music scholars in a variety of fields, such as music theory, pedagogy, historical musicology (including translations of Greek and Latin treatises on music), musical criticism, ethnomusicology and philosophy. Most prominent students of professor Kholopov

Tatyana Mdivani, Margarita Katunian, Rimma Pospelova, Vladimir Fedotov, Vladimir Barsky, Yelena Kuteva, Alla Alexeyeva, Dmitry Schulgin, Sergey Lebedev, Tatyana Starostina, Galina Fyodorova, Andrey Pilgun, Evelina Struchalina, Grazhina Daunoravichene, Albena Naidenova, Irina Kharkhuta, Marina Nasonova, Roman Nasonov, Marina Cheburkina, Oxana Drozdova, and Yelena Dvoskina.

To Yuri Kholopov’s 60th and 70th birth anniversaries Kompozitor Publishers Moscow have published books (Festschriften) Laudamus (1992) and Magistro Georgio Septuaginta (2002), both edited by Valeria Tsenova.