Philharmonic soirees

The manager of the National Philharmonic Society, Dmytro OSTAPENKO, comments on the new season.

Mr. Ostapenko, how is this new season different from previous ones?

Ostapenko: By the number of posters featuring new performers from Europe, people of international acclaim, also a great variety of philharmonic forms and genres. The first 10 days marking special events with which we are opening this season will be a musical overture to the entire season. These events include the 10th anniversary of our symphony orchestra under the talented guidance of the experienced conductor, Mykola Diadiura. Over the past few years this orchestra has matured and progressed, reaching a high professional level. Today it has attained true European standards, as evidenced by the many comments by listeners and critics. Our orchestra is often invited on tours of Western Europe. In fact, the orchestra will soon go on a tour of Spain, France, Germany, Austria, and later, Japan and South Korea.

In conjunction with the orchestra’s jubilee, we’re offering a new program this season, which music lovers will surely appreciate. The orchestra will perform all of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies and piano concertos. Shostakovich’s 100th anniversary will also be marked by a new program called “All the Shostakovich Symphonies,” involving our orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, and the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra.

Another new program will be a series of concerts entitled “Ukrainian Musical Soirees: Heritage and Modern Times.” It will include compositions by V. Hubarenko, Ye. Stankovych, M. Skoryk, Yu. Alzhniev, and other composers.

Mozart’s 250th anniversary will be highlighted by a number of cultural events within the framework of the Ave Verum Mozart Fest. Taras Shevchenko’s 192nd anniversary will be marked by the literary musical drama Haidamaky. The 380th anniversary of birth of the poet and singer Marusia Churai will be marked by a literary-musical composition based on Lina Kostenko’s novel in verse. Aleksandr Blok’s 125th anniversary will be marked by a literary-musical composition entitled The Cracked Bell. People’s Artists of Ukraine Raisa Nedashkivska and Volodymyr Huba will offer the poetic-musical essay “My Angel, Can You See Me?”

What international competitions and festivals are scheduled for this year?

Ostapenko: Music lovers will be able to attend the international festivals Kyiv Music Fest, Musical Premieres of the Season, guitar music, and the choral festival “Golden-Domed Kyiv.” The international guitar festival will be held in December and will offer an opportunity not only to hear music, but also to attend master classes conducted by Stepan Rak (Czech Republic), the winner of many international contests; Volodymyr Dotsenko (Ukraine), Sergei Uryupin (Russia), and Carlo Marcione (Italy). It will also feature guitar students from Kharkiv’s Ivan Kotliarevsky Art University. Classes will be held at the Philharmonic Society’s music salon, free of charge and accessible to everyone. An exhibit of musical instruments from the Yamaha Company, the festival’s co-organizer, will take place in the lobby of the Philharmonic.

Which well known Ukrainian and foreign performers will appear on stage at the Philharmonic Society?

Ostapenko: This season we’ll continue the series of children’s and adult season tickets by subscription. Concerts like “Violin Music,” “The Art of Piano Playing,” and “The Magic Guitar” allow the audience to learn more about the specifics of various performing schools in a more systemic and comprehensive way, as well as about the skills of individual musicians. This season, Kyiv music lovers will enjoy performances by Liana Isakadze, Sergei Stadler (Russia), Oleh Krysa, Yuri Mazurkevich (US), Claudio Martinez Mehner, (Spain), Peter Laul (Estonia), and Aldo Rodriguez (Cuba). Ronald Zollman, the orchestra conductor, is coming from Belgium; violinists Rafael Oleg and Nemanja Radulovic from France; violinist Wolfgang David from Austria; pianists Alice Sara Ott and Toshiki Usui from Japan, and other performers.

Which Ukrainian musicians will perform at the Philharmonic Society?

Ostapenko: During the season we’ll have concerts by the Veriovka Choir, the National Folk Instrumental Orchestra of Ukraine, the Bandurist Cappella of Ukraine, also soloists of the Kyiv Camerata Group, Kyiv Soloists Ensemble, Levko Revutsky Male Choir, and others.

About 10 years ago you launched a very interesting series of concerts called “The Professor and His Pupils.”

Ostapenko: We’ll be continuing this. This season there will be concerts by Borys Arkhimovych, associate professor of the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy (piano), Olha Rivniak (piano), and Tchaikovsky Academy Prof. Yevhenia Cherkasova, Merited Artist of Ukraine (accordion). These distinguished professors will appear in concert together with their former and current students, musicians who have already made their names at international competitions and who currently rank with leading creative individuals in Ukraine.

The Kyiv Philharmonic Society has long been known for its season tickets. Will this practice continue?

Ostapenko: Season tickets allow people to learn more about various performing schools and musical genres. Whereas season tickets for adult audiences are financially justified, those for children and college students are a heavy burden on our budget. Still, we are proud that our Philharmonic Society may be the only one in Ukraine to have had a children’s audience for decades. That is how we are preparing our future listeners. Dmitri Shostakovich, the outstanding 20th century composer, once said, “Let music become man’s lifelong companion from childhood and the grade school years.” We have adopted this statement as our motto for the younger generation’s aesthetic upbringing.