BRAMA, Jun 27, 2004, 9:00 am ET
Press Release
'Grazhda' Music and Art Center of Greene County embarks on its 22nd season
The Music and Art Center of Greene County (MACGC), the first and oldest classical music summer concert series in the region, offers an opportunity to hear outstanding musicians perform in the architecturally unique Grazhda hall. An integral part of the Ukrainian cultural complex built around St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Grazhda is situated in the beautiful natural setting of the Catskills in the Hunter area, a region that has experienced a remarkable growth in cultural awareness and new opportunities.
Dear Members and Friends,
It is a pleasure to inform you of our program of classical music concerts, special events and workshops as Music and Art Center of Greene County embarks on its 22nd season.
"Music at the Grazhda"
The Grazhda, which forms part of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church and Cultural Center, serves as the venue for the classical music concert series presented by the Music and Art Center of Greene County in July and August. An architectural landmark in the region, built in a traditional style typical of the Carpathian region in Ukraine, the complex is a focal point for a well-established Ukrainian summer community and draws tourists from near and far.
grazhdamusicandart.org
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The "Music at the Grazhda" series will comprise 10 concerts, to be held on Saturdays, July 3 through September 4. The series will feature masterful and distinguished musicians, including international soloists and grand-prize laureates, as well as highly promising and quickly rising young musicians from North America and Europe.
The opening concert of the season, to be held July 3, will feature internationally accomplished violinist Solomiya Soroka, a graduate of the Kyiv Conservatory who holds a DMA degree from the Eastman School of Music, and concert pianist Arthur Greene, Gold Medal winner in the William Kapell and Gina Bachauer international piano competitions, and chair of the piano department at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor.
On July 10 the young soprano, Stefania Dovhan, first-prize winner in the Schloss Leopoldskron Voice Competition (Salzburg, Austria, 2003) and Gold Medal winner in the Rosa Ponselle Young Classical Singers Competition (2001), will appear in recital at the Grazhda.
International violin soloist Alexandre Brussilovsky, recipient of the Grand Prize and the Albert Roussel Special Prize at the Jacques Thibaud Competition (Paris, 1975), will arrive from Paris to give a concert at the Grazhda on July 17. Mr. Brussilovsky has been referred to by Lord Yehudi Menuhin as "… a most admired colleague and an excellent musician and violinist."
On July 24, MACGC welcomes the distinguished piano duo of Luba and Ireneus Zuk, respectively, professor in the faculty of music at McGill University and professor and former director of the School of Music at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. The Zuk Duo is known for its commitment to the introduction of contemporary music by Ukrainian and Canadian composers to international audiences.
Star of the Kyiv Opera, tenor Volodymyr Grishko (Hryshko) will appear in concert on July 31. Since winning the grand prize at the Francisco Viсas International Singing Competition (Barcelona, 1989), where he was accorded the Plбcido Domingo "Best Tenor" title, Mr. Hryshko has been engaged as leading tenor at, among others, the Kirov Opera, L'Opйra de Paris-Bastille, Salzburger Landestheater, New York City Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera.
Internationally acclaimed cellist Vagram Saradjian, grand-prize laureate in the International Cello (Geneva) and Tchaikovsky competitions, returns to the Grazhda from Texas, where he is a member of the string faculty at the University of Houston, for a concert appearance on August 7. Mr. Saradjian has appeared as soloist with leading orchestras and such renowned conductors-composers as Rostropovich, Kondrashin, Khachaturian, Temirkanov and Maxim Shostakovich.
Internationally active concert pianist Roman Rudnytsky, who comes from a prominent Ukrainian musical family and whose performances, held under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy's public diplomacy program, take him all over the world, will be featured at the Grazhda on August 14.
The two concerts slated for August 21 and August 28 will mark the debut appearance of the newly formed Music at the Grazhda Chamber Music Society. Featured musicians are acclaimed cellist Natalia Khoma, laureate at the Pablo Casals, Tchaikovsky and Belgrade international cello competitions; Solomiya Ivakhiv, a recent graduate, with highest honors, of the Curtis Institute and concertmaster of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra; concert violinist Yuri Kharenko, former member of the Leontovych String Quartet and a Merited Artist of Ukraine; concert pianist and MACGC Music Director Volodymyr Vynnytsky laureate of the Margueritte Long-Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris; and special guest artist, Randolph Kelly, principal violist of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, who in addition to his illustrious orchestral career is renowned as a soloist and chamber musician.
The season will draw to a close with a grand finale on September 4 with Mr. Vynnytsky in a solo recital, presenting a program of works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt. The concert will be held in memory of Oscar Newman renowned author, architect and urban planner, a benefactor of MACGC and a dear and esteemed friend of the Ukrainian community. Mr. Vynnytsky will also appear in concert on July 17 and August 7.
A Fazioli
It is with the greatest of pleasure that MACGC announces that, courtesy of Dr. Viktor Gribenko, a practicing physician in New York and president of Kolo, Inc., MACGC has acquired a Fazioli grand piano for the concert series.
Special Events
An exhibition of works by Mykhailo Moroz (1904-1992) - a leading Ukrainian йmigrй artist of the post-war generation, whose paintings, mostly landscapes as well as portraits, are closely tied to the Expressionist tendency will open at the Grazhda on Sunday, July 4. The exhibition will also include documentation of the artist's creative life.
Internationally recognized architect Radoslav Zuk, a professor of architecture at McGill University in Montreal, will open an exhibition and present a guest lecture on Sunday, July 25, at 1 p.m. The exhibition, titled "Radoslav Zuk Tradition and the Present: Ukrainian Churches in North America and Museum Projects in Ukraine," will be on view at the Grazhda, balcony section, through Labor Day weekend. The topic of Prof. Zuk's lecture will be "The Music of Architecture: Harmony and Rhythm in Space." The lecture will be illustrated with transparencies and musical examples.
Workshops in Ukrainian folk arts and singing
As customary MACGC will offer four one-week workshops in Ukrainian folk arts: pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) and ceramics, with, with New York-based artist Sofia Zielyk, instructor (August 2-6); embroidery, with Lubow Wolynec, curator and librarian at the Ukrainian and Library of Stamford, Conn., instructor (August 9-13); and gerdany (bead necklace stringing), instructor to be announced (August 9-13).
The two-week Ukrainian folk-singing program, under the direction of Anna Bachynska former soprano with the Lviv Opera and currently, a music teacher and choir director in New York City, will be held August 2-13; the program is devised for children age 4-9. The very popular children's recital, which includes a storytelling-based theater presentation, will take place on Sunday, August 15.
The workshops are held daily, Monday-Friday. Fees: one-week workshops, $40; the two-week folk-singing program, $70. For additional information and to register for the workshops or program by June 30, call Ms. Zielyk, (212) 533-6419; Mrs. Wolynec, (203) 327-7899 (work); or Ms. Bachynska, (718) 271-9387. The workshops are funded, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Membership and Donations
We would like to take this opportunity to inform you that in 2003 donations increased by a third. Your financial support which now accounts for over half of MACGC's revenue is crucial for establishing a firm basis that enables us to continue our work and allows for the development of current and future programs.
If you are currently a member, we kindly request that you renew your annual commitment of support. To become a new member, please choose a membership category and level of support, and return the form provided.
Your donation is tax-deductible. We ask that the membership forms be returned by May 18th in order to have contributors acknowledged in the summer season playbill.
It promises to be an outstanding season. We look forward to welcoming you at the Grazhda!
Volodymyr Vynnytsky
Music Director
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Ika Koznarska Casanova
Executive Director
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Dr. Ihor Sonevytsky
Honorary Chairman of the Board
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P.S.: Profiles of the performers and guest lecturer, as well as general information including performance schedules, changes and updates, as well as driving directions and membership information will be available online (effective June) at: grazhdamusicandart.org. Information is also available by calling (973) 509-9453 (April-June 30) and (518) 263-4335 (July 1 through September 4).
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