Yevgeny Kochat was born in Krivoi Rog, Ukraine, on July 2^nd, 1967.  His mother was a music teacher.  He finished the music academy in Chernovtsy, and then served in the Soviet Army in Nagorny Karabakh from 1987–89.  Later he entered the Gnesin Institute in Vladimir Tonka’s class.  Vladimir Berlinsky taught the quartet class.  After finishing the institute, he worked in as concertmaster for a violoncello group in the ‘Seasons of the Year’ chamber orchestra, and as assistant concertmaster for the ‘Russian Kamerata’ orchestra, as well as the orchestra for the Bakhovsky Center.

Zhenya (Yevgeny) was born in the Ukraine, and Ukrainian was his mother tongue.  He practically never knew his father, who had left the family when Zhenya was three.  As far as his music studies go, it is an unusual story.  He went to music school himself, wanting to play the piano, but they registered him for the violoncello.  Zhenya did not want to, he gave it up after only two years and did not learn very much.  He went to school, and did not even think about music.  Later, it is almost an anecdote.  Zhenya had an older friend, who had graduated from the Chernovtsy music academy, returned from the army, and got in at the music school.  But he did not have enough students.  His friend asked Zhenya: «Sign up, I'll count you in my class.  I won't even touch you, and I'll have enough for a class.»  It was all going fine, until it was time for exams, and he had to show off his student. Zhenya back then was 16.  To help out his friend, scarcely two weeks before his performance he sat down with the cello and remembering that he could play — played.  His future and most loved teacher, Igor Bogdanovich Kadyuk was on the examination committee.  He was an instructor at the Chernovtsy academy.  He laughed, and was amused by the whole shady business.  Later he went up to Zhenya and said: «Come on, let's give it a try!»

Musicians understand what it means to learn to play an instrument at 16 — it is practically impossible to get anything of value from it.  Kadyuk took Zhenya into the academy.  Zhenya's mother, Nina Timofeevna Poturai, said that he took to his lessons like a condemned man, working at it for ten-twelve hours a day.  Zhenya forbid her from attending his final exam, but she showed up in secret.  There were few people in the performance hall, and he played last.  Suddenly, before he was to begin, his mother saw that a crowd was coming into the hall, and people were taking up all the seats.  She was no longer afraid that he would notice her.  He played with a surprising sound, an astonishingly flexible phrasing, and an absolute and natural command of the instrument.

After the academy Zhenya was preparing to attend the Lvov conservatory, but he was overage, and was immediately swept up into the army.  He ended up in a ‘hot spot' in Nagorny Karabakh.  Zhenya did not like to talk about it, not even to his loved ones.  He saw death close up, but did not have a bitter relationship with life, or injuries and guilt.  He had not a drop of cynicism.

On returning from the army, had not a thought for music.  The father of an army pal was a military commander, and with his help Zhenya got admission to the KGB academy in Moscow.  Once Zhenya was back among his Chernovtsy music friends, however, they convinced him to take up music again.  He went home, practiced and studied for a year, then entered the Gnesin Institute.  He was 22, at an age when most were already graduating.  He was absorbed in the quartets; these were always for him the most interesting.  He dreamed of forming his own quartet, and entering into competitions, but somehow this never came about.

Later there were many places, and moonlighting.  We met in the orchestra.  It turned out that we were almost always working together.  Zhenya did not want to work in a ‘symph' one bit.  He got an idea to start his own group, along a jazz theme, and work that into a quartet.  Zhenya started rearranging ‘Chattanooga Choo-choo', ‘Caravan', and ‘Take Five'.  It turned out that Zhenya could find the intricate quartet style, with all the free melodies and the most interesting sub-melodies, but he was overworked, and so he wrote very complicated pieces for himself and me.  He made a large repertoire for a quartet out of simple songs.  It was a lot of work, and very talented.  We found a group, got together, practiced, and played wherever we could.  Our musician friends, when they heard us, said: «Guys, you're so interesting, great!»  Sometimes we earned good money from this, but the main thing was that it was fun.  We planned to play a Schubert quartet ‘Death and a Girl', and Smetana and Beethoven quartets.  Zhenya's last work was a big one — «Trout Quintet» by Schubert.