Igor Gaidenko studied composition under Vladimir Zolotukhin at the Kharkiv Institute of Arts. Gaidenko graduated from Zolotukhin's composition class in 1990.
Vladimir Zolotukhin, who served as a teacher and head of the Department of Composition and Instrumentation at the Kharkiv State University of Arts named after I. P. Kotlyarevsky, included Gaidenko among his notable students.
