USA for Ukraine Presents the Kyiv Camerata for a Benefit Tour

PR Newswire

Featuring Ukrainian Soloists:
Violinist Bohdana Pivnenko, Pianist Dmytro Tavanets,
Violist Kateryna Suprun , and Flutist Dmytro Kuzmin

GREENWICH, Conn. , April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In its first visit to the United States since 1998, Kyiv Camerata, Ukraine's leading chamber ensemble, will perform an all-Ukrainian program of North American premieres as part of a benefit tour from April 26th through May 4th supporting humanitarian and animal causes in Ukraine .

The 24-member Kyiv Camerata will perform the North American premieres of works by leading Ukrainian composers, including Zoltan Almashi, Oleksandr Kozarenko, Yevhen Stankovych, Volodomyr Zubytsky, Victoria Poleva, and Valentin Sylvestrov. Shchetynsky's Requiem, Skoryk's Melody, and Sylvestrov's Prayer for Ukraine are the only works on the program not receiving their North American premieres.

Current concerts are scheduled in Connecticut and New York , with a premier in Greenwich, Connecticut on Friday, April 26th at 8pm , followed by the Grand Opening on Sunday, April 28th at 5pm at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall to be conducted by Canadian Ukrainian Keri-Lynn Wilson featuring acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato and the Ukrainian Chorus DUMKA of New York , directed by Vasyl Hrechynsky.

The tour will continue at the Westport Playhouse in Westport, Connecticut on Tuesday, April 30th at 7pm , the Garden City Hotel in Garden City, New York on Friday, May 3rd at 6:30pm , and finish at the Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Hall for a matinee performance on Saturday, May 4th at 12pm , all of which feature spinto soprano Victoria Miningham .

Tickets range from $45 - $150 .

Benefit tour and ticket sales information is available at www.usaforukr.com/events .

USA for Ukraine's Benefit Tour is in partnership with Dom Master Klass , The Ukrainian Embassy in the USA , Ukrainian Institute , Ukraine Aid International , The Town of Greenwich , Greenwich Country Day School , Westport Playhouse , the Garden City Hotel , Victoria Miningham Opera House , Olga and Company, Orphmedia , Fourth Universalist Society , the Jetzy App and Jersey Mike's Subs .

About Kyiv Camerata
Kyiv Camerata was founded in 1977 as the Chamber Music Ensemble of the Union of Composers of Ukraine . It is regarded as Ukraine's leading chamber ensemble and has been hailed for its contributions showcasing living Ukrainian composers. Since 2023, it has been led by violinist Bohdana Pivnenko, who in addition to performing with the ensemble is also its General and Artistic Director.

About Joyce DiDonato
Grammy Award–winning mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has towered to the top of the industry as a performer, a producer, and a fierce advocate for the arts. With a repertoire spanning over four centuries, a varied and highly acclaimed discography, and industry-leading projects, her artistry has defined what it is to be a singer in the 21st century. Recent and upcoming highlights include the premiere of Tod Machover's Overstory Overture as Patricia Westertord at Alice Tully Hall and Seoul Arts Center. In June 2022 , DiDonato joined the Met Orchestra for a European tour. Her performance was described as "the embodiment of musical perfection"(Wochenglatt Reporter). DiDonato opened The Metropolitan Opera's season performing in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking as Sister Helen. In concert, DiDonato appears with her hometown Kansas City Symphony Orchestra for a series of subscription concerts, as well as performances in Istanbul , Strasbourg , and Paris .

About The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka New York
The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka New York has enriched the cultural and spiritual life of the Ukrainian diaspora for over 75 years while also generating enthusiasm in the American and European public. With a wide repertoire, including Ukrainian folk, classical, and sacred music, the chorus has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Avery Fisher Hall , Town Hall, Madison Square Garden , the Brooklyn Academy of Music, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York , the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. , the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey , as well as concert halls of many European capitals, among them, the Royal Albert Hall in London . In 1990, the Chorus made a successful concert tour of England , Austria , Germany , France , and Ukraine where it was received with great enthusiasm in Kyiv , Lviv, Poltava, and Kaniv. The first musical director of the Chorus was L. Krushelnycky. His work was continued by O. Mykytiuk, R. Stepaniak, I. Zukowsky, I. Zadorozny, I. Sonevycky, A. Bernyk, and S. Komirny. Since 1991 "Dumka" has been directed by Vasyl Hrechynsky. The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka New York consists of approximately 50-60 members and performs at various venues throughout the year.

About Keri-Lynn Wilson
Keri-Lynn Wilson is the founder and Music Director of the highly regarded Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, which has toured major cities and festivals of Europe and the United States over the past two summers. It was formed in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine . The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra's recording of the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, conducted by Maestro Wilson, was released by Deutsche Grammophon to commemorate the second anniversary of the invasion. The orchestra will embark on its Beethoven Ninth Freedom Tour of leading cities this summer.

Wilson's career as a conductor of opera and symphonic music includes many of the world's leading opera houses and symphony orchestras. Among the opera companies she has conducted most recently are the Royal Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera and the Deutsche Opera Berlin. Amongst the orchestras she has most recently led are the NHK Symphony, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz. Over a rich and varied career, Wilson has conducted, amongst many other orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Wiener Kammerorchester, the Russian National Orchestra, the RAI Symphony Orchestra, the Salzburg Mozarteum, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Toronto Symphony and l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal .

About Victoria Miningham
Soprano Victoria Miningham, Founder and Artistic Director of Victoria Opera House, made her operatic debut with The New York Grand Opera in the production of "La Boheme." The New York Times heralded Victoria as a "Saucy, beaming Musetta." Victoria has performed in Opera Houses and Concert Halls worldwide as Violetta in "La Traviata," Mimi in "La Boheme," Gilda in "Rigoletto," Countessa in "Marriage of Figaro," and Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan tutte." Victoria earned her Masters in Music & Performance from The New School , complementing her studies in Opera at Juilliard. She is a proud member of SAG, EQUITY, and AGMA.

About USA for Ukraine
USA for Ukraine , Inc. is a non-profit organization registered in the state of Connecticut , Federal Tax ID 88-1789331. USA for Ukraine , Inc. is organized to provide humanitarian and safety supplies and food and pet supplies as well as emergency and other relief services to conflict zones, in particular in Ukraine and other regions of Eastern Europe .