"Music at the Grazda" concert series embarks on its 23rd season (05/01/05)

A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do...

"Music at the Grazda" concert series embarks on its 23rd season

by Ika Koznarska Casanova

JEWETT, N.Y. - The "Music at the Grazhda" concert series presents a summer program of classical music concerts for the enjoyment of visitors to the Hunter area of the Catskill region. The series, which embarks on its 23rd season under the aupices of Music and Art Center of Greene County (MACGC), has become an established presence in the region and on the Ukrainian American cultural scene in general.

Comprising the current season will be eight concerts, to be held on Saturdays, July 2 through September 3, in the architecturally distinctive Grazhda hall.

The opening concert of the season, to take place July 2, will feature the acclaimed Leontovych String Quartet - Yuri Mazurkevich, violin; Yuri Kharenko, violin; Borys Deviatov, viola; and Volodymyr Panteleev, cello.

Pianist Lydia Artymiw, recipient of the Andrew Wolf Chamber Music Prize (1989) and the Avery Fisher Career Grant (1987), and top prize winner at the Leeds (1978) and Leventritt (1976) international competitions, will appear at the Grazhda on July 16. Ms. Artymiw, who has emerged as one of the most compelling talents among pianists of her generation, is a Distinguished McKnight Professor at the University of Minnesota.

As part of this season's new programming, Virlana Tkacz, artistic director of Yara Arts Group - a resident company at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York City - will present a slide lecture with poetry reading on Yara's work to be held on July 23.

The "Music at the Grazhda" Chamber Music Society - Alexandre Brussilovsky, violin; Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin; Borys Deviatov, viola; Natalia Khoma, cello; Volodymyr Vynnytsky, piano - will mark its second season as MACGC's resident ensemble with a concert on July 30.

New York City Opera diva Oksana Krovytska, soprano, who has gained international recognition through acclaimed appearances at, among others, L'Opéra de Montréal, San Francisco Opera, Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, Santiago Opera in Chile, Opera de Bellas Artes in Mexico, L'Opéra de Monte Carlo and the Bolshoi Opera - will appear at the Grazhda in a return engagement on August 6.

Making their debut at the Grazhda on August 13 will be top-prize-winning violinists Iryna and Marta Krechkovsky, with Kevin Kwan Loucks at the piano. Originally from Ukraine, the Krechkovsky sisters, who emigrated to Toronto in 1996, are, respectively, third- and second-year students at the Cleveland Institute of Music and The Juilliard School. Mr. Loucks is a Master of Music candidate at Juilliard.

A program titled "A Viennese Evening" will feature Mr. Kharenko, violin, and Mr. Vynnytsky, piano, in a benefit concert to be held August 27.

The final concert of the season, to take place on September 3, will feature Vladimir Viardo, first-prize winner of the Fourth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (1973) and grand prix laureate of the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition (Paris, 1971). Former professor at the Moscow Conservatory and currently professor and artist-in-residence at the University of North Texas, Mr. Viardo has performed worldwide, including as soloist with such conductors as Mehta, Maazel, Penderecki and Mata. In February 2004 Mr. Viardo appeared with the Kyiv Philharmonic as both conductor and soloist.

The music director for the "Music at the Grazhda" series since 2003 is Mr. Vynnytsky, with Ika Koznarska Casanova as executive director and Dr. Ihor Sonevytsky as honorary chairman of the board.

Profiles of the performers, as well as general information - performance schedules, changes and updates, as well as driving directions and membership information - will be available online (effective June) at www.GrazhdaMusicandArt.org. Information is also available by calling (518) 263-4335 (July-September).

An integral part of the Ukrainian cultural complex built around St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Grazhda is situated on Route 23 A, five miles west of the village of Hunter and three miles east of Lexington, N.Y.

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