Music and dance
On May 14, Marko Topchii won the International Gredos San Diego Classical Guitar Competition in Madrid. Hailing from Kyiv, Mr. Topchii performed on May 24 with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and on April 30 appeared in New York at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall.
Aleksei Semenenko, a violinist from Ukraine, was second-prize winner at the Queen Elizabeth Competitions in Brussels held on May 4-30. Vladyslava Luchenko was a semi-finalist.
A newly formed chorus made its successful debut in Oakville, Ontario, at a concert in St. Joseph’s Church on November 17. Conducted by Uwe Lieflander, the Sheptytsky Institute Choir consists of mostly non-Ukrainian singers. Seven selections sung by the choir were by Toronto-born composer Roman Hurko.
Earlier in the year, on May 31, Mr. Hurko conducted the premiere of his new composition, the English-language Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom No. 3 at Washington’s Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family.
Composer Roman Hurko at the premiere.
And on October 18, director Halyna Kvitka Kondracki conducted the premiere of Mr. Hurko’s Liturgy No. 4 for female voices commissioned by the Vesnivka Choir in Toronto. This was part of an inaugural concert to commence the 50th anniversary season of the Toronto-based Vesnivka Choir.
Over one weekend, March 13-15, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus performed its program “Brothers! We Shall Live” in the cities of Rochester, N.Y., Passaic, N.J., and Stamford, Conn. These concerts were devoted to music set to the words of Taras Shevchenko and raised over $50,000 for humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
On June 13-14 The Ukrainian Museum in New York presented programs by bandurist Julian Kytasty and multi-instrumentalist Michael Alpert titled “Jewish Musical Traditions in Ukraine” and “Ballads from the Ukrainian and Yiddish Heartland.”
The Lehenda Ukrainian Dance Company from Melbourne, Australia, brought its colorful production of “Kazka” to Canada and the United States during the summer months. “Kazka” is an original folk ballet inspired by Ukrainian fairy tales and created by Melanie Moravski-Dechnycz. On July 9, New Yorkers, New Jerseyans and others filled the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts to watch young performers weave stories of supernatural spirits, moonlit woodland creatures and maidens tossing garlands into a river to foretell the future. The composer was Nicholas Buc and the set designer was Stephan Moravski. This dance company had previously appeared at the Piers Festival, Melbourne fringe Festival and White Night Melbourne. Lehenda also performed during the summer in Toronto, Chicago and Wilmington, Del., and at the Ukrainian Cultural Festival at the Soyuzivka Heritage Center.
The Commonwealth Lyric Theater (CLT) under the direction of artistic director Alexander Prokhorov staged Semen Hulak-Artemovsky’s opera “Zaporozhets za Dunayem” (Kozak Beyond the Danube), joining forces with local Ukrainian choirs and dance companies in the New England area. Bass Dmytro Pavluk sang the central role of Ivan Karas. The CLT has developed a reputation in the Boston area for its bold revivals of lesser-known operas and considers its mission to nurture and promote young talent. The first performances took place in Newton, Mass., on May 14-15 and drew praise from the Boston Globe and the Boston Musical Intelligencer. CLT’s executive director, Kyiv-born soprano Olha Lisovska, sang the role of Oksana and was the inspiration behind this production, staged in the hope that more opera companies in North America and Europe would be persuaded to include “Zaporozhets” in their repertoire. Additional performances took place on May 17 in Hartford, Conn., and on May 22 in SUNY Albany’s Main Theater.
As in past years, The Washington Group Cultural Fund continued to present Ukrainian concerts, art and photo exhibits. This included concerts by violinist Marc Bouchkov (February 1), pianist Mykola Suk (February 8) and the Gerdan folk ensemble (February 15). This last event also included an art and photo exhibit: “Revolution of Dignity: Images from Ukraine’s Maidan, 2013-2014” on February 18.
On October 4, TWG showcased violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv and pianist Angelina Gadeliya in a recital of Ukrainian music, titled “Ukraine: Journey to Freedom,” which included music from their new album with music by Viktor Kosenko, Borys Liatoshynsky, Valentin Silvestrov and Myroslav Skoryk. Violinist Aleksey Semenenko and pianist Inna Firsova appeared in concert as part of the Embassy Series on October 6. And on November 1, soprano Vira Slywotzky and pianist Yegor Shevstov performed Ukrainian, French and American vocal music.