Chmyr to appear in solo concert at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall (05/14/00)

Chmyr to appear in solo concert at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall

NEW YORK - Baritone Oleh Chmyr will appear in solo recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in a program of European vocal miniatures, with Volodymyr Vynnytsky at the piano. The concert will take place Tuesday, May 30, at 8 p.m.

The concert program will feature art songs from various national traditions: the rich German tradition of romantic leaders of the 19th century in which the vocal line and the piano accompaniment are of equal musical significance, as articulated by Schubert and developed further by Schumann; modern German song as rendered by Mahler; modern French art songs by Ravel; and Italian songs by Scarlatti and Bellini. The program also includes rarely performed songs by Chopin, as well as songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, representing the highly developed genre in the Russian tradition. The Ukrainian tradition is represented by Lysenko, Hulak-Artemovsky, Ludkevych, Sonevytsky and Skoryk.

A winner in the Glinka and Schumann international competitions, Mr. Chmyr is a talented singer of art songs, who has been praised by critics. Unsere Zeit of Berlin called him "A noble baritone with a beautiful and warm voice enhanced by a deep soul." Joseph McClaren of The Washington Post wrote: "This baritone, with his outstanding artistic ability, stands at the threshold of an international career."

Since emigrating to the United States in 1994, Mr. Chmyr has performed in many cities throughout the country and has taken part in the Newport International Stars Festival (1996). In New York he performed in the "Stars of Tomorrow: Grand Opera Discoveries" concert at Carnegie Hall (1995) as well as at Weill Recital and Merkin halls.

Mr. Chmyr holds degrees from the Lysenko Conservatory in Lviv and the Moscow Conservatory, where he earned a Ph.D. in voice, studying with Hugo Tietz and Petro Skusnichenko (current head of the voice department). He took master classes with the renowned mezzo-soprano Irina Archipova, currently president of the International Association of Musicians in Moscow, and American soprano Licia Albanese, president of the Puccini Foundation in New York.

As principal artist with the Ekaterinburg Opera (1984-1992) and subsequently with the Lviv and Wroclaw opera companies Mr. Chmyr performed leading various roles in the major opera houses of Ukraine, Russia and Poland. His opera and concert tours have taken him to France, Norway, Denmark, Spain and Germany.

Mr. Chmyr taught at the Lysenko Conservatory in Lviv and the Mussorgsky Conservatory in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Many of his students are laureates in international competitions and perform in Ukrainian, Russian and European opera companies. Currently, Mr. Chmyr teaches voice at the County College of Morris in New Jersey.

In conjunction with the recital, Mr. Chmyr has released a CD titled "European Vocal Miniatures." The CD, an OLCO release recorded at Sharp Studio in New York, has been produced by MTV Inc. of Canada.

The Weill Recital Hall concert is presented by OLCO International, a Ukrainian American artist promotion company based in Morristown, N.J. Tickets for the concert, at $20, are available by calling OLCO, (973) 993-8090, or the Carnegie Box Office, (212) 247-7800.

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