Kyiv Camerata, Ukraine’s leading chamber ensemble, is to appear with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka New York at a concert in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall on April 28, led by Canadian Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson. This performance, part of a series of North American premieres, will also feature violinist Bohdana Pivnenko, pianist Dmytro Tavanets and violist Kateryna Suprun.
The benefit tour – from April 26 to May 4 – featuring works by Ukrainian composers, is presented by USA for Ukraine, a not-for-profit organization that supports humanitarian and animal causes in Ukraine. The program of premieres includes the works of leading Ukrainian composers such as Zoltan Almashi, Oleksandr Kozarenko, Yevhen Stankovych, Volodomyr Zubytsky and Victoria Poleva, with Shchetynsky’s Requiem, Skoryk’s Melody, and Sylvestrov’s Prayer for Ukraine being the only works on the program not receiving their North American premieres.
The National Ensemble of Soloists “Kyiv Camerata”, established in 1977 by conductor Valerie Matiukhin, holds an esteemed position in the cultural environment of Ukraine and has a wide-ranging repertoire which embraces works from the baroque through to contemporary compositions. With a mission to promote Ukrainian music, it comprises musicians who are both virtuosos and soloists, and has performed in countries from Eastern and Western Europe to the USA and Middle East. The company has also enjoyed the privilege of working with musicians of the calibre of Myroslav Skoryk and Ivan Karabyts, both of whom have served as Artistic Director. Since 2023, the Kyiv Camerata has been led by violinist Bohdana Pivnenko, who performs with the ensemble and is also its General and Artistic Director.
Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has a voice that is “nothing less than 24-carat gold” according to The Times, and is regarded as “A transformative presence in the arts” by Jake Heggie, writing in the Gramophone. The multi-Grammy Award winner and 2018 Olivier Award winner for Outstanding Achievement in Opera began this current season with her portrayal of Sister Helen in the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking. Ms DiDonato has also appeared in concert performances and oratorios in Istanbul, Hamburg, Valencia, London, Luxembourg, Strasbourg and her home city of Kansas. She will follow these performances with Kyiv Camerata with appearances at the Met as Virginia Woolf in Kevin Puts’ The Hours.
The New York-based Ukrainian Chorus Dumka, directed since 1991 by Vasyl Hrechynsky, has a repertoire which includes Ukrainian folk, classical and sacred music, and has performed across New York, at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, and in the capital cities of Europe, including the Royal Albert Hall in London. The Chorus Dumka consists of approximately 50-60 members and performs at various venues throughout the year.
Keri-Lynn Wilson is both founder and Music Director of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, which has received much acclaim for performances in the major cities and festivals of Europe. Formed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Orchestra released its recording of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony on Deutsche Gramophone, under the baton of Maestro Wilson, to mark the second anniversary of this invasion. It will undertake its Beethoven Ninth Freedom Tour of leading cities this summer.
Wilson has appeared on the stages of many of the world’s leading opera houses, such as the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera and the Deutsche Opera Berlin, and led orchestras such as the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Russian National Orchestra, the RAI Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Mozarteum and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.
Tickets for the benefit concert on April 28 are available at carnegiehall.org, by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, or visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and Seventh Avenue. For more information on USA for Ukraine, and other locations at which this concert will be performed, visit usaforukr.org.
Information sourced from:
Metropolitan Opera program notes
Artists’ websites