Dimitri Diatchenko

Classical guitarist showers with Demi

By Judy Taylor Cramer
Managing editor, Florida State Times


Imagine walking into your favorite music store and there, on the cover of a CD in the classical music section, is a semi-nude young man striking a classic Greek pose with his guitar.
That's how Dimitri Diatchenko plans to shake up the public's perception of classical musicians.
"You don't have to be a dainty, academic dork," says the recent FSU graduate.
No one would mistake Diatchenko for "dainty" or a "dork." He's tall and muscular, from years of competing in tae kwon do championships, and darkly handsome in a Hollywood leading-man sort of way.
Which brings us to Diatchenko's unusual plan for career cross-promotion: Using his acting skills (he has a role in Demi Moore's new film "G.I. Jane," filmed in North Florida) and the ensuing fame to introduce classical guitar to a much wider audience.
"Most of the people in the audience for a classical performance are other guitarists, professors and students who are required to attend," he says. "If Jean-Claude van Damme came to town for a concert, people would go see him no matter what instrument he played."
In a country where pop culture has been plugged into the electric guitar since the early days of rock'n'roll, Diatchenko knows his task will not be easy. But he's encouraged by the comment he most often hears after a concert: "I didn't know a guitar could sound that way."
Diatchenko began playing guitar when he was 8 years old, about the same time he took up tae kwon do. For years he juggled the two arts, music and martial, winning competitions in both. But as an undergraduate at Stetson University, he had to decide between devoting more time to tae kwon do or to the guitar. "I chose the guitar," he says.
He also chose the graduate program in the FSU's School of Music, mainly, he says, because of Bruce Holzman, associate professor of guitar.
Then came the casting call for "G.I. Jane." The opportunity to appear in a major feature film was reason enough for Diatchenko to postpone his spring graduation and head for Jacksonville.
"It was a lucky, good chance to break into the business," he says.
Originally cast as a "featured extra," Diatchenko managed to expand his role to include some lines and a shower scene with Moore.
Diatchenko graduated in August with a master's degree in guitar performance and headed for Los Angeles to pursue an acting career and a doctorate in music at the University of Southern California.
If he indeed finds fame as an actor, expect to see Diatchenko promoting his latest movie on Leno or Letterman, playing a little classical guitar, and chatting about his nude shower scene with Demi Moore.

Return to contents Page

Internship with threads attached

By Gina M. Edwards
Special to the Florida State Times


FSU's department of textiles and consumer sciences is sporting a designer's label.
The designer: Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A., Inc., a successful sportswear company. The label: the first College of Human Sciences internship program with a major New York fashion house.
A dozen students competed for the Hilfiger internships, and two-Frances Beaudry, a fashion design student, and Alison Reichert, a fashion design and merchandising major - were chosen.
Reichert landed the internship after writing a letter detailing her experience with Pride of Florida, where she says she set up a new $40,000 pattern-making and design system and showed prison inmates how to use it.
Instrumental in organizing the internship was Jim McLaughlin, associate in merchandising for the College of Human Sciences. Before joining FSU, McLaughlin worked for 25 years managing stores for Maas Brothers, then Burdines in Tallahassee.
At FSU, he's been working to increase internships in merchandising and develop internships for design majors. Hilfiger was the first company he approached.
At the designer's New York offices, Beaudry was assigned to the design department and Reichert inspected factory samples for sewing quality, size measurement and color.
After graduation in December, Reichert returned to New York, where she works as regional coordinator for Europe for Polo, Ralph Lauren's International Licensing Division.
McLaughlin is already working on internship agreements with Liz Claiborne and Calvin Klein, as well as another Hilfiger internship this fall.


Return to contents Page