Eternal values: baroque music

On September 7 the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine will host a concert of the ensemble that has won world renown and performs baroque music on authentic instruments, conducted by conductor, violinist, and violist Nazar Kozhukhar. The musicians of The Pocket Symphony are well-known soloists from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Pocket Symphony is Kozhukhar’s brainchild; it emerged in 1994 and included the students of the conservatoire fond of playing authentic musical instruments. They were united by the idea to return to the music of past centuries its primary looks, having purified it from the layers of epochs and styles. At the moment the repertoire of the band includes various programs embracing the period from early baroque to modern works. In 1996 The Pocket Symphony won in the International Chamber Music Ensemble Competition in Hague. Besides, some soloists of the ensemble are winners of prestigious competitions in Brussels, Paris, Barcelona, Salzburg, Amsterdam, and are leading active concert activity. The Pocket Symphony, a Moscow ensemble, performs at the prestigious halls of Spain, France, Germany, Holland, the Baltic states. It will make its debut in Ukraine.

The program the musicians will present in Kyiv will feature six concerts by Johann Sebastian Bach for one, two, three, and four harpsichords (soloists are teachers at the Moscow State Conservatoire: associate professor at the historical performing department, Oleksii Shevchenko, and Maksym Yemelianychev). And Ukrainian harpsichord school will be presented at the soiree by the professor of the NMAU ancient music department Svitlana Shabaltina and winner of international competitions Natalia Sykorska. As the organizers of the tour told The Day, this creative project is unique because the works will be performed on rare instruments, copies of Franco-Flemish harpsichords of the 17th-18th centuries, made by Ukrainian and Russian masters Dmytro Titenko and Dmytro Bielov. It should be noted that on September 7 Kyiv music lovers will have an opportunity to see the creative cooperation of high-qualified musicians of different schools.

The Day’s FACT FILE

Nazar Kozhukhar is a conductor, violinist, and violist. He heads The Pocket Symphony ensemble. Nazar was born in 1969 to a family of musicians (father, Volodymyr Kozhukhar, conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine; mother, Aida Kozhukhar, viola player), graduated from the Central Music School, Moscow Conservatoire, and postgraduate course at the Moscow Conservatoire. In 1992-93 within the framework of the Artist Diploma program he underwent training at the Boston University, the US. He is a winner of the All-Union David Oistrakh Competition of Violinists (Odesa, 1988), the Locatelli Concours international competition (Amsterdam, 1995). He gives regular concerts in the best music halls of various countries, he has also performed at various festivals of chamber music.