The founder of the Music and Art Center (MAC) of Greene County, tha late composer Ihor Sonevytsky, firmly believed that the essence of music and nature is intertwined. This summer, for the 34th consecutive year, the audience at the Grazhda Concert Hall in Jewett, N.Y., located just five miles from the town of Hunter, will be able to experience music in it most essential natural setting.
On August 6, MAC will honor the 90th birthday of its founder with a memorial/celebratory concert featuring baritone Oleh Chmyr, violinist Anna Rabinova, cellist Natalia Khoma, pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky and renowned composer Myroslav Skoryk. Music by Sonevytsky, Skoryk, Chopin and Mozart will be performed.
The season will begin on July 2 with a fund-raising concert. Soprano Halyna Sakhnovska, cellist and MAC artistic advisor Natalia Khoma, and pianists Michael Yanovytsky and MAC artistic director Volodymyr Vynnytsky will perform works by Mozart, Beethoven, Lysenko, Verdi and Puccini.
On July 16 the Grazhda will welcome a new chamber ensemble of distinguished musicians: violinist Ms. Rabinova, cellist Andrey Tchekmazov and pianist Margaret Kampmeier. They will play trios by Beethoven, Schumann and P. Schonfield.
The noted dramatic actress from Kyiv Halyna Stepanova will stage a monodrama on July 30. The play “Marriage” is based on the correspondence between the poet Ivan Franko and his wife, Olha Khoruzhynska.
An audience’s favorite, the traditional Children’s Concert will be held on August 13.
The piano duo of Anna and Dmytro Shelest.
Music lovers of jazz will have a treat on August 20. Trombonist Peter Nelson’s JazzTet with Steven Feifke, piano; Devin Starks, bass; Darrian Douglas, drums, and vocalist Marta Bagratuni, soprano, will play oldies and contemporary jazz pieces.
The final concert of the season will take place on August 27. Having already established themselves as solo artists, the husband and wife piano duo of Anna and Dmytro Shelest will play works by Zhuk, Arensky, Gershwin, Skoryk and Revutsky.
Three courses in Ukrainian folk arts will be held in the first two weeks of August. For the first time this year, Vasyl Nayda will conduct five sessions of basic tapestry weaving on a lap frame loom on August 1-5. Two five-day sessions on “gerdany” (traditional bead stringing) with instructor Lesia Lasiy and Ukrainian embroidery with instructor Lubow Wolynets will be held August 8-12. In addition, actress Ms. Stepanova will conduct a course in artistic/dramatic reading and recitation on August 1-5. All these courses are open to adults and children age 10 and above. The two-week singing course for children age 4-9 under the direction of Anna Bachynsky and Melanie Serbay will be held August 1-12. The deadline for course registration is July 20. Please call Melanie Serbay at 518-263-4670 or e-mail [email protected].
The Music and Art Center invites all music, folk arts and nature lovers to the gorgeous Catskill Mountains region. The Hunter Ukrainian community is well-known for its beautiful wooden church, magnificent music, glorious nature, splendid art exhibits, stimulating children’s programs and infinite hospitality, including Ukrainian gourmet food on Sundays. For more information go to www.Grazhdamusicandart.org.