Yaro Bihun
Violinist Marc Bouchkov rewards his concert audience with an encore at the Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria, Va.
WASHINGTON – February was a cold and weary month in this capital city, especially for Ukrainian American, their minds immersed in the horrific events in eastern Ukraine.
And while official and other visits, presentations, meetings and discussions continued to dominate local activists’ calendars here, several Ukrainian cultural events – concerts, art and photo exhibits – managed to find a way into their schedules as well, which helped ease their distress.
On the first day of the month, Ukrainian violinist Marc Bouchkov gave his second performance here in two years at the Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria. Under the sponsorship of The Washington Group (TWG) Cultural Fund, as in 2014, and accompanied by pianist Anna Balakerskaia, Mr. Bouchkov’s program included works by Brahms, Ysaye, Chausson and Ravel. But what brought the packed recital hall audience to its feet was his own solo violin arrangement “Fantasy on a Ukrainian Theme,” based on two popular Ukrainian folk songs, “Vziav by ya Banduru” and “Plyve Kacha po Tysyni.”
Embassy of Ukraine
Violinist Solomia Gorokhivska of the Gerdan trio performs at the Embassy of Ukraine. In the background are photos from the Maidan.
The following weekend, it was pianist Mykola Suk. He joined with the PostClassical Ensemble at the Georgetown Dumbarton United Methodist Church in an evening devoted to Beethoven, which included Mr. Suk’s rendition of the “Moonlight” Piano Sonata No. 14.
Mr. Suk is no stranger to Washington. Five years ago he joined with the PostClassical Ensemble in an all-Liszt “Angels and Devils” program, and later that year he performed the “Moonlight” Sonata at a TWG Cultural Fund concert. He has also played a few concerts at the National Gallery of Art and at other capital venues here.
While Messrs. Bouchkov’s and Suk’s performances had no direct connection with the current events in Ukraine, the fact that their country of origin has been dominating the news for so many months was difficult to ignore by those attending.
Yaro Bihun
One of the moving photographs from “Images from Ukraine’s Maidan, 2013-2014” on exhibit at the Wilson Center in Washington.
The following Sunday, February 15, it was the Gerdan folk ensemble – violinist Solomia Gorokhivska, flutist Andrei Pidkivka and pianist Oksana Skidan – performing Ukrainian Carpathian mountain folk songs at the Chevy Chase Presbyterian Church. Again, while not related to the program, the Ukrainian crisis, may well have been on the minds of the predominantly non-Ukrainian audience there.
But the crisis in Ukraine was the primary focus of the Gerdan trio’s performance five days later, February 20, at the Embassy of Ukraine. Indeed, it was a Maidan charity concert and photo exhibit arranged by the Embassy and the United Help Ukraine organization to commemorate the “Fallen Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred” and raise funds for humanitarian assistance for those now suffering in Ukraine.
Also commemorating the first anniversary of that infamous bloody day on Kyiv’s Maidan was a post-liturgy gathering at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family on February 22 for a commemorative concert. It featured the Spiv-Zhyttia chorus with Victor Morozov accompanying on the guitar, young children reciting poems, the singing of memorial hymns, prayers, and remarks by Bishop John Bura, Ukraine’s Ambassador Olexander Motsyk and others.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Green Miller and Suzanne Miller study Anastasiya Nekupela’s “Our Strength Lies in Unity” at the Wilson Center in Washington.
The visual images of the Maidan were brought to Washington on February 18 to the halls of the Wilson Center in the form of an art and photo exhibit, “Revolution of Dignity: Images from Ukraine’s Maidan, 2013-2014.”
The official opening of the exhibit, displaying some 40 works by 17 Ukrainian artists and photographers on two of the building’s floors, attracted many leaders and members of Washington think tanks and organizations active in trying to get the United States to assist Ukraine in these desperate times.
Sponsored by the Wilson Center, the Kennan Institute and the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, the exhibit was organized by Natalia Moussienko, a former Kennan Institute Fulbright Scholar and now a senior fellow at the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine. Ambassador Motsyk was among the dignitaries participating in the opening ceremony.
The exhibit will be available for public viewing Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., until March 18.
Yaro Bihun
The opening ceremony of the “Images from Ukraine’s Maidan, 2013-2014” exhibit at the Wilson Center in Washington.