About the 2023 Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival
Started in 2020, the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival is a platform for the performance and discussion of the complex and unique contributions of Ukrainian composers to contemporary music. From Friday, March 17 — Sunday, March 19, 2023, the fourth annual Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival will honor the “father” of Ukrainian contemporary music, Borys Liatoshynsky (3 January 1895 - 15 April 1968). Liatoshynsky is among Ukraine’s most important pedagogues, training entire generations of composers at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv in the first half of the 20th century. The Festival will present Liatoshynsky’s music, including his string quartets, alongside works by his students, his students’ students, and present-day composers influenced by his work.
As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters its second year, the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival reaffirms its commitment to the preservation of Ukraine’s musical history at a time when its cultural identity remains at stake.
The 2023 festival, entitled “A Tribute to Borys Liatoshynsky”, will open with “Inspirations” on March 17, 2023 at 7pm. “Inspirations” will introduce audiences to the music of Liatoshynsky by placing his works alongside composers who inspired him, including Alban Berg (whose work Liatoshynsky championed), and Liatoshynsky’s own students, Valentyn Sylvestrov and Volodymyr Zahorstev, members of the Kyiv Avant-Garde.
The second concert, “Evolutions”, on March 18, 2023, will chart the variety of ways Ukrainian music has developed since Liatoshynsky’s death by exploring the music of his “descendants.” This program includes pieces by contemporary Ukrainian composers who can trace their pedagogical genealogy to Liatoshynsky, including Serhii Vilka, Alex Voytenko, Andrii Didorenko, Anna Arkushyna, Olena Ilnytska, and Yana Shliabanska.
Though still largely unknown outside Ukraine, Liatoshynsky’s music reveals fascinating parallels with Western works. In the final concert, “Conversations”, on March 19, 2023, Liatoshynsky’s Third and Fourth String Quartets will be presented alongside the String Quartet No. 3 of Béla Bartók, with whom he shared similar interests in national musics, and the Sextet of American composer Aaron Copland, whose own career chartered similar paths to those of his Ukrainian contemporary.
Please visit the official Festival website for more information: ucmfnyc.com.
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CONCERT SCHEDULE:
2023 Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival: A Tribute to Borys Liatoshynsky (1895-1968)
“Inspirations” | Friday, March 17, 2023 at 7:00 p.m.
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall 129 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023
The
festival will open with a concert introducing audiences to the music of
Borys Liatoshynsky, the father of Ukrainian contemporary music. In
honor of 55 years since his passing, our first concert will place his
works in the musical context in which they were written, alongside
composers who inspired him including early atonal composer Alban Berg,
whose work Liatoshynsky championed, and Liatoshynsky’s own students,
members of the Kyiv Avant-Garde.
“Evolutions” | Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 8:00 p.m.
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall 129 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023
Liatoshynsky is among Ukraine’s most important
pedagogues, training entire generations of composers at the National
Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. In our second concert, we will chart
the variety of ways Ukrainian music has developed since Liatoshynsky’s
death by exploring the music of his “descendants.” This will include
pieces by contemporary Ukrainian composers who can trace their
pedagogical genealogy to Liatoshynsky as students (and
“grand-students”) of the many composers who studied with him or have
been influenced by essential elements of his style.
“Conversations” | Sunday, March 19, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall 129 W 67th St, New York, NY 10023
Though still largely unknown outside Ukraine, Liatoshynsky’s
music reveals fascinating parallels with western works and inspires
thought-provoking conversations between musical worlds. In our closing
concert, Liatoshynsky’s Third and Fourth Quartets will be presented
alongside the Third Quartet of Béla Bartók, with whom he shared similar
interests in national musics, and the Sextet of American composer Aaron
Copland, whose own career charted similar paths to those of his Ukrainian contemporary.
Click here for the official 2023 Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival website and more information, including performers, composers, video recordings, photos, past events, media, partners and more. The Center for the Humanities at the Graduate Center, CUNY and the CUNY Adjunct Incubator with the Gittell Urban Studies Collective are proud co-partners and supporters of the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival organized by Leah Bastone.
