Heading for Kyiv to Achieve Mastery

Her classes are held at the Gliere Music College and are meant to hone the gifted musicians’ skill. The curriculum includes subjects that will help the performers in their subsequent concert endeavors. The classes are conducted by leading professors from various countries. For example, piano classes will be conducted by Terezva Dusseau (France), Bernd Hoecke (Germany), Vadim Rudenko (Russia), Michael Markov (Netherlands), Valeriy Kozlov, and Ihor Riabov (Ukraine). Master classes for violinists are taught by Mark Larykovych (US) and Viktor Abramian (Russia); classes for cellists are conducted by Vladimir Panteleyev (US) and Olena Chervova (Ukraine). Concertmaster classes are supervised by Ukraine’s renowned Prof. Anatoliy Ilyin, and Tetiana Duhina is responsible for music theory.

During the five years that the International Summer Music Academy has offered these master classes, the geography of its students has expanded considerably. This year applications were received from 84 applicants from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, China, Russia, Japan, Ukraine, Serbia, and Montenegro. Among the academy’s students are “veterans” — musicians visiting Kyiv expressly to attend such master classes, polish their professional mastery, and meet with friends. Among them are Liat Sabba and Laura Kegeles from the U.S., Andrew Johnson from the UK, and Kyrylo Plotnykov, Yulia Patramanska, and Maksym Fedyk from Ukraine.

Liat Sabba admitted that the classes at the summer academy offer her a unique opportunity to perform with an orchestra, which is a very important test that every professional musician must undergo. The organizers of the master classes point out that 43 musicians applied for performances with an orchestra. Among the partners of the new “academicians” will be the State Variety Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (directed by Viktor Zdorenko) and Chernihiv’s Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Mykola Sukach. The academy’s best students will perform in the Kyiv Summer Music Soiree Festival series of concerts scheduled for July 22-31 at the Central Culture Park near Maryinsky Palace.

A competition for the Gradus ad Parnassum Prize will be held for the first time. Concertmaster and chamber ensemble classes are very popular with the students. The youngest musicians at the academy are Daria Shevchenko and Yelyzaveta Panchenko, both aged 10, and the most experienced participant is 27-year-old Andrew Johnson (UK).

Regular classes at the academy alternate with informal meetings between the teaching staff and student body. These meetings are noted for their remarkably creative atmosphere, and anyone who has been to Kyiv at least once definitely will want to revisit the Ukrainian capital.