Oksana Zolkewych
A concert of young Ukrainian talent was held at the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation Gallery on Sunday June 2, 2002. It was hosted by Lada Darewych, a young and talent Ukrainian actress. The performers were Solomiya Moroz flutist, Darian Leduchowski guitarist and Yurij Petlura bandurist.
Solomiya Moroz, born in Lviv, began music lessons at the age of ten in Kyiv and also studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. She is currently enrolled in the performance program at the Faculty of Music of the University of Ottawa. Solomiya has already performed in solo recitals and chamber music groups in Toronto and Ottawa. We heard Solomiya in Syrinx by Claude Debussy and in Three Preludes for Solo Flute by Yaroslaw Kushnir. Her playing demonstrated clarity of tone, musical melodic lines and advanced technical ability.
Darian Leduchowski has been playing the guitar since he was twelve years old. Apart from a few years of formal training, Darian has been largely self-taught. His great passion for Flamenco music can be seen in his choice of pieces as well as the manner in which he executed them. He performed works by Isaac Albeniz, Paco Pera, Paco De Luca and several traditional Spanish dances such as Tangos, Sevillanas, Bulerias etc. Darian played with much sensitivity and great temperament. He is an extremely musical individual.
The last performer on the program was bandurist Yurij Petlura, who began playing the bandura at the age of eight. He studied mostly in Canada except for a short stay in Lviv, where he worked with professor Herasymenko. Presently he is studying with Victor Mishalow. Although he is still very young, he has already won numerous awards in competitions for both piano and bandura. Yurij displayed a deep understanding of contrapuntal art in Pachelbels Canon in D. He showed great sensitivity and control in the Concerto in G Major by Vivaldi. In Ridna Maty Moya and The Carpathian Rhapsody, Yurij exhibited his mastery of the bandura. He is truly a mature musician and a young virtuoso!
In closing, Oksana Rewa, president of the Canadian Bandura Foundation, made a presentation to Yurij. Lada Darewych was a most able MC and contributed greatly to the success of the concert. Lada is a gifted theatre actress who has also appeared in short films and television commercials. Recently we have witnessed her in a leading role in the play Metropolit Sheptitsky. Currently she is co-hosting the Ukrainian program Kontakt. Although all the above artists are at different stages of their artistic development, they all demonstrated considerable talent, a love for their art, hard work and dedication. We will surely hear from them again. In the mean- time we wish them much fortitude and success in their respective future careers.