Pittsburgh holds "Celebration of Ukrainian Classical Music" (01/17/99)

Pittsburgh holds "Celebration of Ukrainian Classical Music"

PITTSBURGH - At the University Club on the evening of November 6, 1998, approximately 80 people were entertained by featured artists Dr. Jaropolk Lassowksy, on violin; Dr. Taras Filenko, piano and harpsichord; Andriy Pidkivka, flute and sopilka; and Lilea Wolanska, soprano, at a concert titled "A Celebration of Ukrainian Classical Music."

The concert featured the recently discovered Sonata in C Major for Violin and Piano by Maksym Berezovsky that was performed on the piano and harpsichord for which it was originally written. Works by composers Lysenko, Mykhaylo Haivoronsky, Hryhorii Maiboroda, Pylyp Kozytsky, Lesya Dychko, Lev Revutsky, Volodymyr Kaminsky and Mykola Fomenko were also performed. "Proshchannya" (Farewell) composed by Serhiy Mamonov, dean of the Donetsk Institute of Music, had its world premiere at the concert.

Dr. Lassowsky holds a doctorate from Ohio State University, and degrees from New York University and the New York College of Music. He is associate professor of music at Clarion University where he teaches violin, viola and music history, as well as conducts the university orchestra.

Dr. Filenko is a concert pianist and musicologist, and is a graduate of the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Kyiv. He recently defended his doctoral dissertation, "Ethnic Identity, Music and Politics in Ukraine," at the University of Pittsburgh.

Mr. Pidkivka graduated from the Lviv Conservatory of Music with honors in the flute and sopilka. He teaches music theory and the flute at the University of Illinois.

Ms. Wolanska is an accomplished performer and recording artist who has toured Ukraine, Russia, the U.S.A. and Canada. Her recordings include a dedication to Lysenko, a celebration of works by 20th century Ukrainian composers living outside Ukraine, a compilation of Galician composers of the 1920s, and American popular music from the early 20th century.

Prof. Mamanov dedicated the piece to the spirit of cooperation that exists between the cities of Donetsk and Pittsburgh. He is married to one of the participants of the United States Information Agency's Office of Citizen Exchanges program, "Community Connections," which is being implemented locally by the Pittsburgh Council for International Visitors (PCIV). To date, 82 citizens of Donetsk have visited Pittsburgh through the "Community Connections" program, with an additional 30 scheduled to come by July 1999. The Ukrainian Technological Society (UTS) planned this concert as a welcome for the seventh "Community Connections" group from Donetsk.

Sharing a similar industrial history and a determination to maintain a strong economy, Pittsburgh and Donetsk are working to forge an official relationship as sister cities. PCIV chose to foster the sister city relationship with Donetsk, hoping to create a better understanding of contemporary Ukrainian culture and professional practices in the region and, in the long term, leading to business opportunities and other exchanges.

After the concert, an impromptu sing-along consisting of Ukrainian folk songs took place around the piano. Ukrainians from Ukraine, America and Canada joined with the children and grandchildren of Ukrainians who emigrated from Ukraine in an enchanted evening of fellowship and friendship made possible by Ukrainian music.

The concert was sponsored by the Ukrainian Technological Society (UTS), Multilingual Communications Corp., the University of Pittsburgh Ukrainian Students' Organization, Slavic Department, and Center for Russian and East European Studies, and Nickolas C. Kotow.

| Home Page |