Yuri Kordonsky originates from Odessa and studied acting and directing with Lev Dodin in St. Petersburg State Academy of Theatre. Since 1989 he has performed and directed in more than twenty countries, and conducted workshops in Russia, Germany, Spain and Romania.

He directed his original play Disappearance at the renowned Maly Theatre in St. Petersburg, as well as The House of Bernarda Alba by Lorca.

He has worked in Romania for over a decade, amongst his most important works here are Uncle Vanya (Chekhov; award of the Romanian Association of Theatre Artists (UNITER) for best directing 2002), Marriage (Gogol), Crime and Punishment (Dostoevsky) and Bury Me Behind the Baseboard, based on Pavel Sanaev – all of them at the Bulandra Theatre Bucharest and Dog Heart (Bulgakov) at the National Theatre Bucharest. In 2012, his production of The Last Day of Youth (Tadeusz Konwicki) at the National Theatre Sibiu received an UNITER award for the best play of the year. Some other international awards for his work are the Golden Light (St. Petersburg), the Award of the Union des Théâtres de l'Europe for the best play and awards from the Romanian Ministry for Cultural Affairs.

Yuri Kordonsky lives in the United States, where he currently is a chair of theatre department and teaches acting and directing at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.