Evening of Ukrainian Piano Trios

Program:

Mykhailo Verbytsky / Martin Kennedy – Ukrainian National Anthem, arranged for Piano Trio

Iryna Alexiychuk – Signs on the Water for Piano Trio

Borys Liatoshynsky – Piano Trio no. 1, op. 7

Lara St. John, violin

After performing for decades around the globe as a “high-powered soloist” (The New York Times), Canadian-born violinist Lara St. John has chosen to dispense with a conventional biography, preferring instead to offer the following personal statement:  “I began playing the violin when I was two years old and have continued to do so ever since. But even though my career has had many high points and offered real artistic satisfaction, I cannot honestly say I would do it all over again. It has required horrific sacrifices – including my experiences with child sexual abuse and being treated as little more than a commodity by a long list of presenters, administrators and so-called educators. “Rampant misogyny continues to be depressingly commonplace in the world of classical music, incredibly, even as we fumble our way toward the middle of the 21st century. This has drained away a lot of the sheer joy of making music for me. “At the same time, I have made some wonderful friends in this business. I will always have faith in them and in the profound power of music to inspire and to heal. I will never stop being amazed by the possibility within a simple instrument like the violin. But my desire to use it as a tool for making a living has fallen off to almost nothing.” Lara now only performs for causes she cares about, like elevating Ukrainian music. Lara has performed as a soloist with most of the world’s major orchestras. She owns her own recording label, Ancalagon, which she founded in 1999. In 2022, she released she/her/hers, her label’s 16th album, featuring solo violin works by women. After going public with her own experience of being raped by her professor at the Curtis Institute of Music when she was 14 years old, Lara heard from many other survivors of abuse at the hands of music teachers, conductors and colleagues, with the complicity of their respective institutions. She has now finished Dear Lara, a documentary film on this subject, premiering early 2026. In 2021 Lara was invested with the Order of Canada, her country’s highest honor. She is a knight of Burgundy and a reptile enthusiast. She owns and performs on a 1779 Guadagnini, a 2011 David Wiebe and a 2024 Isabelle Wilbaux.

Valeriya Sholokhova, cello

Ukrainian-American cellist Valeriya Sholokhova is a versatile soloist and chamber musician based in New York City. She has performed on renowned stages such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Saturday Night Live, and has toured extensively through Europe and the United States. Valeriya is a co-founder of Trio Fadolin, which has received Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant and recorded an album of commissioned works. As a soloist, Valeriya performed the U.S. premiere of Peteris Vasks’ Cello Concerto No. 2 in Boston as well as Camille Pepin’s double concerto, “The Sound of Trees” at the Kennedy Center. A founder of the Ukrainian Music Initiative, Valeriya actively champions the works of Ukrainian composers through recitals, fundraisers, and her ongoing involvement with the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival. A laureate of international competitions, Valeriya holds principal positions with The New Orchestra of Washington, The Refugee Orchestra Project, and The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra. A full-scholarship graduate of the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, she is also dedicated to community outreach through Sing for Hope.

Pavlo Gintov, piano

Pianist Pavlo Gintov has been described as “a poet of the keyboard” by Marty Lash of the Illinois Entertainer, a “musical storyteller” by the Japanese publication Shikoku News, and “a fantastic pianist and extraordinary artist” by Jerry Dubins of the Fanfare Magazine. Following his debut at the Kyiv Philharmonic Hall at the age of 12, when he performed Mozart Concerto in D minor K 466 with Kyiv Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Roman Kofman, Pavlo has been touring throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the United States, appearing at such stages as Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Teatro Verdi Nationale in Milan, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory and Kioi Hall in Tokyo. He has been a soloist with Tokyo Royal Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Shizuoka Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic, and Manhattan Chamber Orchestra under such conductors as Michiyoshi Inoue, Victor Yampolsky, Thomas Sanderling, Volodymyr Sirenko, and Tomomi Nishimoto. A passionate advocate for Ukrainian music, Pavlo is a founding member of the Ukrainian Music Initiative and a co-founder of the Ukrainian Music Competition that takes place annually in New York City. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with Nina Svetlanova.

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