Kyiv-Classic charity foundation established

“Talent is like a candle. When lit, you must hold it in your hands and protect the flame, otherwise it will be blown out by a gust of wind or a draft,” Academician Zhulynsky said from the stage of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine before a gala concert introducing the Kyiv-Classic Culture and Art Charity Foundation. Everybody in the audience agreed.

To make talent flourish, talent alone is not enough. It needs sponsorship. Likewise, it takes a charity foundation to help academic music find its place on stage, television, radio, and in music stores. Yevheniya Basalayeva, a renowned pianist, had this purpose in mind setting up Kyiv-Classic. She wants sophisticated modern Ukrainian and foreign compositions (among them forgotten masterpieces and those seldom performed) to have a worthy place in the music life of Ukraine. Some will say that such music is heard during concerts and various festivals. Correct, but it is also true that performers do not often include “unfamiliar” classical pieces in their programs, preferring good old repertoires. As for reputed festivals propagating modern music, such as Kyiv Music Fest and Season’s Premieres (Kyiv), Two Days and Two Nights (Odessa), they are few and take place once a year. What Herculean effort it takes to stage them is best known to the organizing committees. More often than not such festivals are arranged on credit, often final. Incidentally, in any civilized country a famous musician wishing to travel abroad to attend an international music forum with his or her own program consisting of national compositions will be financed by the national ministry of culture. In Ukraine, it is just another dream that might come true “someday.” In a word, purposefully propagating modern music here is unthinkable without a special foundation.

By organizing music soirees (four to date), Yevheniya Basalayeva wants them to be interesting for both professional performers and audiences. Every such concert turns out to have something up its sleeve. In the music-poetic composition “A Monologue from a Stellar World” works by Ukrainian poets served as epigraphs for the musical numbers (music by Fedir Yakovenko, Igor Stravinsky, and Yakiv Stepovy), recited by the popular Ukrainian actress Rayisa Nedashkivska. In the program “Dedication,” February 7, instrumental interludes performed by the percussion group Ars Nova served as a bridge between “elite” and “commercial” music, generating an enigmatic atmosphere. As for the program, it accompanied the group’s name, “Contrasts.” The group is led by Yevheniya Basalayeva. The audience heard the organ, a choir, and a grand piano, solo and with stringed instruments. Stylistically, the program ranged from Giulio Caccini’s Ave Maria (16th c.) to Volodymyr Huba’s Afflatus (21st c.), demonstrating the composer’s inexhaustible inspiration imbibed from just seven notes. Incidentally, the inclusion of premieres into programs consisting of well-known compositions was practiced in the 19th century. That way the organizers secured themselves against fiasco. Concert brochures contained information about composers and musical pieces. There were also lighting effects meant to inspire a dreamy atmosphere in the audience.

Among those present at the concert were Yevhen Stankovych, Vitaly Hodziatsky, Alexander Kanerstein, and other composers. Now their works will be more often heard at concerts. Music lovers may also live to attend premieres of Ukrainian and foreign compositions at least once a week (as in the good old times). Such concert will attract practically all music devotees of the Ukrainian capital. At least this is what Yevheniya Basalayeva, founder of the Kyiv-Classic Charity Foundation, dreams of.