Memorial benefit concert celebrates pianist Daria Telizyn (06/25/06)

Memorial benefit concert celebrates pianist Daria Telizyn

by Lesia Bihun

WASHINGTON - Supporters of Ukrainian culture in the Capital area came to the Embassy of Ukraine on June 2 for a memorial benefit concert celebrating pianist Daria Telizyn, who dedicated her life not only to the pursuit of excellence as a performer but also to helping aspiring young musicians develop their artistry.

The concert, featuring young musicians mostly from the Washington area, was organized by The Washington Group Cultural Fund in cooperation with the Ukrainian Embassy.

The evening was opened by Cultural Attaché Natalia Holub, who welcomed the audience and performers to the Embassy, conveyed best regards from Ukrainian Ambassador Oleh Shamshur and expressed a special thanks to Chrystyna Sonevytsky for organizing and being the soul of the Daria Telizyn benefit, which will help Ukrainian musicians participate in U.S. music competitions.

Introducing the program, TWG Cultural Fund Director Marta Zielyk lamented the fact that Ms. Telizyn "was taken from us much too soon." Her death last year at age 44, Ms. Zielyk said, deprived the Ukrainian community of a driving force and immense energy. "What our fund does by committee, Daria did by herself," she said.

As a pianist, Ms. Telizyn demonstrated "moments of sheer brilliance," as a Washington Post music critic observed. A Dutch critic called her "one of the greatest pianists that he heard." Ms. Telizyn also found time to help other musicians through fund-raising and even single-handedly organizing U.S. concert tours for music ensembles from Ukraine.

Ms. Telizyn was a dedicated teacher and mentor to budding musicians, not unlike the five performers in the first part of the memorial benefit concert program - all in their teens: pianists Jeffrey Pang, Julia and Wendi Gao, oboist Andrew Fick and violinist Julia Shapovalenko (who was joined by her teacher, Emil Israel Chudnovsky, in a violin duet) - whose playing was marked by enthusiasm, good technique, some shy glances and a few deft saves from small mishaps.

The second part of the program featured more seasoned players, still none past their mid-20s. Among them, Maria Sonevytsky was unique in that, while in middle school, she actually studied under Ms. Telizyn. Ms. Sonevytsky played excerpts of works she had learned under Ms. Telizyn.

Violinist Benjamin Brookstone performed Paganini's Caprice No. 24 and pianist Milena Zhivotovskaya played Chopin's Scherzo No. 2. The concert concluded with the performance of Scherzo-Fantasy, composed by Ms. Zhivotovskaya, with the composer at the piano joined by flutist Ivan Latko.

The evening's program spanned the range from interpreting to the creative process, something Ms. Telizyn valued very much and felt compelled to support.

Ms. Telizyn was born in 1960 and began her music education in Toronto. After two additional years at the Paris Conservatory, she received a master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore in 1985 and settled in Washington.

For more than two decades she performed to critical acclaim throughout North America and Europe, playing concerts in London, Paris, Kyiv, Washington, Frankfurt, Brussels and Toronto as well as in Mexico. She also toured Germany and Austria with the Washington Symphony Orchestra and twice toured the United States with the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra.

The last few years of her life Ms. Telizyn lived in Florida, where she died on March 21, 2005.

The proceeds from the memorial benefit concert are earmarked for a special fund to assist qualified young musicians from Ukraine to help cover expenses associated with their participation in the University of Maryland's William Kapell International Piano Competition or other international music competitions in the Washington-Baltimore area.

The Washington Group Cultural Fund decided that the Daria Telizyn Memorial Benefit Fund will be ongoing and is soliciting additional contributions for this effort. Those wishing to contribute should make checks out to "TWGCF - Telizyn Fund" and mail it to the TWG Cultural Fund treasurer: Rosalie Norair, 9311 Persimmon Tree Road, Potomac, MD 20854.

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