DATELINE NEW YORK: Wrapping up events of year 2000 (CONCLUSION) (01/21/01)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Wrapping up events of year 2000

by Helen Smindak

Continuing the review of unfinished business in year 2000, including Christmas season performances, "Dateline" wraps up the remainder of the items languishing in the "In" basket.

The KIPNIS-KUSHNER duo of harpsichordist/fortepianist Igor Kipnis and pianist Karen Kushner, both of whom have a connection to Ukraine, were the star attraction of the Music at the Institute program in December at the Ukrainian Institute of America. In "Dances for Four Hands," Mr. Kipnis and Ms. Kushner offered a tantalizing performance of duets played on one piano, all of them dances with the rhythm and spirit of various nations. Among them were Warlock's Victorian-flavored "Capriol Suite," Grainger's "Four Pieces for Four Hands" and works by Dvorak, Brahms and Grieg. An interesting addition was the syncopated work "Ragtime" by the contemporary Ukrainian composer Vadym Zhuravytsky. Mr. Kipnis, whose father, world-renowned singer Alexander Kipnis, was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, has performed in recital and as a soloist with orchestras around the world. The winner of numerous honors, including six Grammy nominations, he has appeared on radio and TV as a guest artist and as host of his own show on WQXR Radio in New York, has recorded 82 albums, and is currently presenting courses on piano style and interpretation at the Mannes College of Music and the University of Connecticut. Ms. Kushner's Jewish ancestors on both sides of her family came from Ukraine. A prize-winner at the Ravinia International Master Class Competition and in other midwest competitions, Ms. Kushner has participated in numerous festivals in the United States and abroad. She has recorded Chopin Mazurkas on two CDs and Brahms Waltzes on Epiphany Recordings, and is also featured on a VAI Audio release starring the choral and organ music of Kevin Oldham. Previously a teacher at the Mannes College of Music and the Turtle Bay Music School in New York, she is on the faculty of the Conservatory of the University of Missouri in Kansas City.

SERGEI KOPTCHAK, the bass from the Slovak Republic who made his Met debut as Boris Godunov in 1983, appeared on PBS on December 27 in the televised Met production of "Don Giovanni" in which he sings the role of the vengeful Commendatore. In The New York Times review of the opera, which opened the Met season in September, music critic Bernard Holland wrote that "Sergei Koptchak (was) a deeply eloquent Commendatore." Mr. Koptchak, who comes from the town of Dacov in Slovakia's Rusyn/Ukrainian region, readily acknowledges his Ukrainian ancestry.

Canadian-born TANNIS KOWALCHUK and the company of the new "Arca Nova" production were delighted to receive rave reviews from The Village Voice and The River Reporter in the Catskills. Produced in October by NaCl (North American Cultural Laboratory), an experimental theater company founded in 1997 by Ms. Kowalchuk and her husband, director Brad Krumholz, "Arca Nova" is the company's most ambitious performance project to date, incorporating acrobatics, stilt-walking, dance, chanting and surreal costuming as it explores the text of "The Book of Genesis." Now boasting a new office in Brooklyn, NaCl is preparing an original performance for young audiences and children, "Beware!" which will premiere on February 11 at the Brooklyn Art Exchange's Groundhog Festival.

American Ballet Theatre superstar VLADIMIR MALAKHOV, like his fellow dancers and countrymen Irina Dvorovenko and Maxim Belotserkovsky, received many plaudits from New York critics during the ABT fall season at City Center, including compliments from The New York Times and Newsday for his work in Petipa's "Sleeping Beauty" and Harold Lander's "Études." He continues to toss off fantastic leaps despite an extremely busy schedule. Mr. Malakhov is kept on the go with three artistic bases - New York, Vienna and Stuttgart - and is presently performing in the Stuttgart Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet" (January 18-27). In March, the Ballet of the Vienna State Opera will premiere his original full-length work titled "Ballet oder ein Maskenball," based on Verdi's "Un ballo in Maschera." Mr. Malakhov is scheduled to appear in a number of ballets during ABT's spring season at the Metropolitan Opera House from April 30-June 23, including the company premiere of "Eugene Onegin," "La Bayadere" and Kevin McKenzie's "Swan Lake," which will feature Malakhov, Dvorovenko and Belotserkovsky in the June 16 performance.

The MAYANA GALLERY in the East Village held a Christmas exhibit/sale from mid-December through January 14 featuring wearable art by two Lviv artists. Employing batik work on terra cotta, tan and grey silk oblongs and squares, Natalia Hatz used patterns from pysanka motifs and abstract art work resembling butterflies and exotic ocean creatures to create fantastic scarves for dress-up or framing. Handwoven designs by Olena Okhrymyk included shirts, blouses and vests decorated with black, burgundy and red motifs. Multi-colored stripes stood out boldly on fringed runners of handwoven cotton by Maria Matskovska, also of Ukraine. The show included unique ceramic angels, candleholders and "oberehy" (talismans) by gallery director Slava Gerulak, as well as graphic works by Bohdan Soroka, Yordan holiday scenes by Vasyl Duvirak, oils by Vasyl Panchak, delicate watercolors with Christmas themes by Erika Slutsky and black-and-white linocuts by Vitaliy Lytvyn. The exhibit also included gerdany by Elmira Gerulak and jewelry by Masha Mukhin-Archer.

Hollywood greats GEORGE MONTGOMERY and WALTER MATTHAU passed away in 2000 after outstanding film careers. Mr. Montgomery, born George Montgomery Letz in Brady, Montana, died at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on December 12 at the age of 84. The 15th child of Ukrainian immigrant parents, he grew up on the family's 20,000-acre ranch and went from prize-fighter to stuntman to cowboy star before turning his energies to sculpture, furniture-making and painting. The rugged, soft-spoken actor made his Hollywood debut as a stuntman in "The Singing Vagabond" and went on to star in Westerns and then in romantic films opposite big-name stars like Betty Grable. He was married to singer Dinah Shore from 1943 to 1962. Walter Matthau, who died at 79 in Santa Monica, Calif., on July 1, was not of Ukrainian ancestry but liked to describe his Hollywood image as a "Ukrainian Cary Grant." His parents were Milton Matuschanskayasky, a Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, and the former Rose Berolsky from Lithuania. Born in New York, Matthau made his breakthrough in acting as Oscar Madison, the slovenly sportswriter in Neil Simon's 1965 Broadway comedy and 1968 film "The Odd Couple." His performances as cantankerous but endearing characters made him a distinctive leading man in movies, theater and television.

ZENIA MUCHA, New York Gov. Pataki's communications director and key political adviser, has accepted a high-powered job with ABC television. According to a December 20 report in the New York Post, Ms. Mucha will become senior vice president for communications for the ABC Broadcast Group and the ABC Television Network, starting in mid-February. Based in Los Angeles, she will report directly to Robert Callahan, Broadcast Group president, and Alex Wallau, network president. Ms. Mucha, 43, whose roots are in Ukraine, became involved in politics in 1980 as a volunteer in Sen. Alphonse D'Amato's first campaign for the U.S. Senate. She earned a reputation in state government as a tough-talking, take-no-prisoners advocate for Gov. Pataki. Mr. Pataki praised Ms. Mucha's "uncanny instincts, unshakable common sense and unerring sense of right and wrong" at a press conference on December 19 and told the gathering: "Over the past seven years, I have been fortunate to have Zenia Mucha as a trusted adviser and dear friend ... Zenia will be sorely missed." A call to Ms. Mucha's office in Albany brought no response as of press time, but New York Post columnist Cindy Adams vouches for Ms. Mucha's Ukrainian roots.

The popular Christmas-season ballet "THE NUTCRACKER," performed to Tchaikovsky's infectious score, made its perennial return to the New York State Theater in December with traditional stagings by the New York City Ballet. The familiar holiday story also turned up in several versions, among them the production "Yorkville Nutcracker" by Dances Patrelle, which set the ballet in 1895 in Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood and featured guest soloists from the Dance Theater of Harlem and the Kansas City Ballet. The St. Petersburg State Ice Ballet took a classical approach to rendition, which took place on an indoor ice rink at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, while the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra rewrote the story to center around Hannukah and used klezmer arrangements of dances from Tchaikovsky's score in "The Golden Dreydl."

Pianist JULIANA OSINCHUK, a New York native currently residing with husband Mark Dawson in Anchorage, Alaska, returned to home territory in mid-October to visit relatives and friends. She is now in her third year as the chamber music director of the Anchorage Festival of Music, which presents several concerts and school outreach performances in Anchorage and outlying Alaskan communities. Ms. Osinchuk recently gave the first Alaska performance of Saint Saen's Fourth Piano Concerto, as well as an all-American Song recital with Sherri Weiler featuring Aaron Copland's music and two tributes to Kurt Weill with Kate Egan. Among other chores that keep her busy: she teaches privately, chairs the annual Young Alaskan Scholarship concert and continues to do presentations and promotions for her three CDs ("Tchaikovsky Piano Works," "The Sorcerer's Piano" and "Growing Babies Bright"). When "Dateline" met her in the East Village, she was looking forward to a side trip to Atlanta, Georgia, to watch the recipient of the Young Alaskan Scholarship of 2000, Audrey Solomon, compete as Miss Alaska in the Miss America Pageant 2000. Ahead of her was a busy season: two big concerts in Anchorage with a repeat in Valdez, Alaska, an engagement at the National Gallery of Arts in Washington and a program in Kansas City.

Ukrainian ballet stars VADIM PISAREV and INNA DOROFEYEVA, another husband-and-wife team who are graduates of the Kyiv School of Ballet, appeared with the Donetsk Ballet in Paramus, N.J., on January 2 in a performance of "Don Quixote," sponsored by the volunteer oganization Juliedance to benefit pediatric cancer research, care and treatment. The two have been with the Ballet of the Donetsk Opera since 1983, and Mr. Pisarev has been artistic director of the opera house since 1996. Described as an explosive virtuoso dancer, Mr. Pisarev won bronze, silver and gold medals in international ballet competitions during the 1980s and was named best dancer in Europe by UNESCO in 1995. In 1994 he founded an annual international ballet festival in Donetsk that is considered one of the highlights of Ukraine's artistic scene. Mr. Pisarev and Ms. Dorofeyeva, both National Artists of Ukraine, have performed extensively on the gala circuit, including tours in Japan with "Nina Ananiashvili and Friends" and from 1989 to 1996 made annual appearances at Montreal's "Le Don des Étoiles" charity galas which raise funds for sick children.

Met Opera bass PAUL PLISHKA, who sang in Puccini's "Turandot" during the fall season, was applauded by The New York Times' Anthony Tommasini, who wrote: "The always dependable bass Paul Plishka was a resonant-voiced and pitiable Timur." After January appearances as Ferrando in Verdi's "Il Trovatore," Mr. Plishka will perform the role of the Count in Massenet's "Manon" beginning February 10 and returns to his role as Timur in "Turandot" in March and April. He can be heard in "Manon" during a live performance on the Texaco-Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast on March 3 at 1 p.m.

GEORGIE POCHEPTSOV, the 8-year-old wonder artist who's been called "the pint-sized Picasso," and 18-year-old MICHAEL FURDYK of Toronto, a co-founder of the leading global provider of community-powered comparison shopping on the Internet, appeared on a November telecast of ABC's "Oprah" show as prime examples of young people whose talents have brought them success and fame. Georgie's mother, Dubrava, says her son started drawing at the age of 17 months, when the family was still living in Kyiv. She believes Georgie inherited his artistic talent from his father, Oleh, who died when Georgie was 3. A Pocheptsov original recently sold for $100,000. Georgie, who says he wants people "to see how the world is beautiful," lives with his mother in Potomac, Md., and is saving his money for college. Mr. Furdyk, the son of Myrosia and Pavlo Furdyk of Toronto, directs the wireless strategy and business development efforts of BuyBuddy, Inc., the Internet company he co-founded with two young partners in 1998 that now has close to 50 employees. The partners previously collaborated on MyDesktop.com, an online publishing company they founded in 1996 and sold for more than $1million in 1999.

Artist JANE POLLACK of Norwalk, Conn., has transformed an artistic hobby into a profitable business that earns her $75,000 a year by decorating eggs with American quilt patterns. A former elementary school art teacher, she bases her art on the ancient wax-and-dye technique of Ukrainian egg decorating, which she learned from a colleague in the 1970s. Interviewed last August by Annika Pergament during a CBS news program, she described how she "revived and revitalized" the Ukrainian art, turning plain eggs into intricately decorated eggs and eggshells into delicate earrings and brooches (one set of earrings and brooch features a Ukrainian pysanka design centered with a deer). Ms. Pollack has created specially decorated eggs for President and Mrs. Roland Reagan and for the Clintons, and has received national exposure in Country Living and other magazines, as well as in museum gift shops and on television. After studying marketing, she created a website ([email protected]) and identified and added a customer base. Her book "Decorating Eggs: Exquisite Designs With Wax and Dye" (1996) is considered the definitive work on this new art form, and she has now added "motivational speaker" to her resumé. Depending on the intricacy of the pattern and other factors, quilt-decorated eggs and traditional Ukrainian pysanky are priced from $30 to $350 (complete with stand and glass dome) and jewelry from $39 to $89. Visitors to Ms.Pollack's website are referred to Surma: The Ukrainian Shop, for information about ordering Ukrainian Easter egg supplies.

DR. ELLEN REEDER, deputy director for art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, is an engaging speaker with an infectious laugh who can put any audience at ease. But when she talks about her latest finished project - the Scythian artifacts exhibit from Ukraine currently touring several museums in North America - her voice and manner exude extra excitement and pleasure. She's simply wild about Ukraine, its natural and man-made wonders and its archaeological treasures. Addressing a packed auditorium at the Ukrainian Institute of America in October while slides of Ukraine were being presented, Dr. Reeder spoke enthusiastically about her work as curator of the "Gold of the Nomads" exhibition. While preparing the exhibit, she took many trips to Ukraine to visit its museums and some of the 40,000 lavishly provisioned burial mounds (kurhany) left behind by the Scythians. She also visited historical sites like the Taras Shevchenko Museum in Kaniv, the Urals where Shevchenko was exiled, the golden-domed churches of Kyiv, the city of Pereiaslav - which she considers "great potential for tourism in Ukraine" - and viewed some of the country's 3,000 rivers and tributaries and "land that stretches out forever."

Tenor BOHDAN SIKORA, from the Lviv Opera, and soprano LYDIA BYCHKOVA, a principal soloist with the Kyiv Opera, led the impromptu singing of Ukrainian carols at a parish luncheon that followed the Christmas liturgy at St. Vladimir's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral on January 7. Both are members of St. Vladimir's Choir. Mr. Sikora, a graduate of both the Pedagogical College in Lviv and the Lviv Conservatory and a 1988 laureate of the Mykola Lysenko Contest for young opera singers, studied church conducting and cantoring in Lviv. He has appeared in principal tenor roles at the Lviv Opera Studio and has concertized and toured with several ensembles from Ukraine, including the Song and Dance Military Ensemble, the Homin Choir, the Lviv Choir of the Credo Polytechnic Institute and the Ostap Stakhiv Folklore Theater. Ms. Bychkova, who also sings in the Dumka Chorus of New York, is scheduled to give a recital at the Ukrainian Institute of America on February 11, sponsored by the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The joint collaboration of the YARA ARTS GROUP, artists from Ukraine and the Gogol Bordello band headed by Eugene Hutz brought an unusual and highly entertaining work to the LaMama Experimental Theatre in December. Yara group's 10th theater piece, "Song Tree," featured traditional polyphonic Ukrainian female singing and the explosive Ukrainian ethno-avant-garde music of the Gogol Bordello band. Though the storyline was fairly simple, featuring characters from ancient "Malanka" and "Koza" rituals who descend on a woman buried in work and science, the overall effect of multilingual songs, dances, music, costumes and stage setting created a stunning original work that had the audience spellbound. Outstanding work was contributed by Ukrainian artists Maryana Sadovska and Yaryna Turianska, who were joined last summer by Yara director Virlana Tkacz and video director Andrea Odezynska in recording pre-Christmas carols and winter songs in the villages of Poltava and the Carpathians. The gypsy singer known only as Piroshka created a tumult of color and sound in her appearances with the band. The multilingual piece, repeated in matinees and evening performances during its three-day run, was directed by Ms. Tkacz, with music by Ms. Sadovska, Ms. Turianska and Mr. Hutz. Yara artists included Zabryna Guevara, Akiko Hiroshima, Jina Oh and Meredith Wright, while the band utilized the talents of Mr. Hutz, Sergey Ryabtsev and Alexander Kosachkoff.

Helen Smindak's e-mail address is [email protected].

PART I

CONCLUSION

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