Soviet Past, Ukrainian Present: Journey Through Choral Music of Ukraine
Session Abstract: Soviet Past, Ukrainian Present A Guided Journey Through Stories, Melodies, and Choral Music of Ukraine
Two musicians born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine, are inviting you to explore the musical soundtrack of Ukrainian history, entwining folk songs with classical and contemporary choral compositions, including the works of Maksym Berezovsky (1745-1777), Dmitri Bortnyansky (1751-1825), Mykola Leontovich (1877-1921), Mykola Lysenko (1842-1912) and Hanna Havriletz (1958-2022). Dr. Julia Zavadsky and Cantor Natasha Hirschhorn will share their personal stories of living in and leaving Ukraine while celebrating the present-day country that has been recently teaching the world some hard-won lessons about democracy and heroism.
Julia Zavadsky
Temple University, Curtis Institute of Music
Dr. Zavadsky is on the faculty at Curtis Institute of Music, Academy of Vocal Arts, and Temple University in Philadelphia. A winner of numerous national and international choral competitions and awards, Dr. Zavadsky is the artistic director of Nashirah, the Jewish Chorale of Greater Philadelphia. Native of Ukraine, she has performed in a variety of venues around Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Dr. Zavadsky is focusing her work on building communities of singers from drastically different backgrounds through song. Fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and Hebrew, she has worked with numerous choirs, soloists, and conductors as a language coach.
Natasha Hirschhorn
H. L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary
Native of Kyiv, Ukraine, Cantor Natasha Hirschhorn is the Hazzan and Music Director of Ansche Chesed, New York, and the Assistant Director of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School at the Jewish Theological Seminary, conducting the Cantorial School Chorus, as well as the Community Choir Shirei Chesed. The author of numerous liturgical and secular compositions, Cantor Hirschhorn is an accomplished performer and recording artist, featured as a singer, pianist, conductor, and composer at congregations, music festivals, and in concert halls throughout the country, including Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and Toronto Jewish Music Festival, among others.
