The Weis Center for the Performing Arts will welcome the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU) on Friday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the Weis Center.
The performance is sponsored, in part, by Sam and Nancy Craig and the Press Enterprise.
Volodymyr Sirenko serves as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor and Volodymyr Vynnytsky will be featured on piano.
Formed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine in November 1918, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is considered to be one of the finest symphony orchestras in Eastern Europe. This is the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine’s 4th US tour.
At the Weis Center, they will perform:
Maksym Berezovsky: Symphony No. 1 in C major
Camille Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 22 (featuring Vynnytsky)
Antonin Dvořák: Symphony No. 8, Op. 88, B. 163 in G major
ABOUT THE NSOU
Formed by the Council of Ministers of Ukraine in November of 1918, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is considered to be one of the finest symphony orchestras in Eastern Europe. Its first conductor was Oleksander Horilyj. Natan Rachlin was the Artistic Director of the Orchestra from 1937 until 1962. Stefan Turchak, Volodymyr Kozhuchar, Fedir Hlushchenko, Igor Blazhkov and Theodore Kuchar consequently conducted the Orchestra as its Principal Conductors. Other conductors who worked with the NSOU include Kostiantyn Simeonov, Leopold Stokowski, Igor Markevitch, Kurt Sanderling, Kiril Kondrashin, Kurt Masur, Hermann Abendroth, Willy Ferrero and others. Soloists who performed with the NSOU include Artur Rubinstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, David Oistrakh, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Emil Gilels, Leonid Kogan, Gidon Kremer, Oleh Krysa, Monserrat Caballe, Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli and Juan Diego Flores. The NSOU was entrusted with the premier performances of the works of the following composers: Boris Lyatoshynsky, Valentyn Sylvestrov, Myroslav Skoryk, and Evgen Stankovych.
The Orchestra has gained international recognition over a remarkably short period of time. Since 1993, the NSOU has released more than 100 sound recordings which include both Ukrainian and international repertoires. Most of these recordings have received the highest international acclaim. In 1994, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) rated NSOU’s recording of Boris Lyatoshynsky’s Symphonies No. 2 and No. 3 as “The Best Recording of the Year”. The CD of Sylvestrov’s Requiem for Larissa was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005. The CD of Bloch and Lees’ Violin Concertos was nominated for a Grammy Award four years later. The NSOU has performed in successful concert tours throughout Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, England, Hong Kong, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. Volodymyr Sirenko is the Artistic Director & Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Oleksandr Hornostai is Managing Director & Producer of the Orchestra.
ABOUT THE PIANIST
With playing described as “mystically powerful,” “rare,” and “simply superb,” possessing “incredible technique and deep musical understanding,” pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky has performed in recitals throughout the United States, France, England, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, among many others.
Internationally renowned pianist Volodymyr Vynnytsky is a laureate of the Margueritte Long-Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris. Vynnytsky has performed with leading orchestras and appeared in solo recitals in many prestigious concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Steinway Hall, the Phillips Gallery in Washington D.C., and many prestigious halls across Europe and Asia. A popular television and radio guest, he has also been featured on NHK-TV (Japan) and in the United States on WQXR-FM in New York, and nationally on NPR.
Recital and chamber music appearances have included guest invitations in numerous International Festivals in Ukraine (Kyiv Music Fest, “Virtuosi”, “Contrasts”, “Bridge of Alexandre III”), France (Masters de Pontlevoy, “Les MusiCimes”, “DSCH”), Brazil (“Virtuosi”), Curacao (Art in Avila), Canada (Niagara International Chamber Music Festival), Czech Republic (“American Spring” Festival) and USA (Artosphere Arts Festival, Chamber Players International, LWMF, Mohonk Festival of the Arts, Windham Chamber Music Festival, Southampton Festival of the Arts, Lake San Marcos Chamber Music Society, Music Mountain in Connecticut, Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston , Rachmaninoff International Festival in Los Angeles, “Music at the Institute” in New York and Art Center of Greene County.
Born in Lviv, Ukraine, Volodymyr Vynnytsky studied at the Lviv Music School for Gifted Children and later at the Moscow Conservatory. After earning his doctorate from the Moscow Conservatory under the direction of Yevgeny Malinin, he taught at the Kyiv Conservatory and concertized extensively throughout the world.
Volodymyr Vynnytsky has been a visiting member of the piano faculty in SUNY at Purchase, NY, and at the University of Connecticut. He served as a Chairman of the Jury of the Emil Gilels International Piano Competition in Odesa, Ukraine, and is an Honorary Professor of Lviv State Academy of Music, Odesa State Music Academy and Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine (Kyiv Conservatory). He is Director of Chamber Music at the College of Charleston, SC, and Music Director of the Music and Art Center of Greene County, New York.
TICKETS
Tickets are $35 for adults, $28 for seniors 62+ and subscribers, $25 for youth 18 and under, $25 for Bucknell employees and retirees (limit 2), free for Bucknell students (limit 1) and $25 for non-Bucknell students (limit 2).
Tickets can be reserved by calling 570-577-1000 or online at Bucknell.edu/BoxOffice.
Tickets are also available in person from several locations including the Weis Center lobby (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) and the CAP Center Box Office, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center (weekdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
For more information about this event, contact Lisa Leighton, marketing and outreach director, at 570-577-3727 or by e-mail at [email protected].
For more information about the Weis Center for the Performing Arts, go to Bucknell.edu/WeisCenter or search for the Weis Center on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.