Chicago-Kyiv sister cities program celebrates its fifth anniversary (09/22/96)

Chicago-Kyiv sister cities program celebrates its fifth anniversary

by Vera Eliashevsky

CHICAGO - The city of Chicago celebrated its fifth anniversary as sister city of Kyiv with a series of events that included the concerts of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra at the Chicago Grant Park Music Festival on July 9 and July 11, a reception to mark the anniversary at the Chicago Cultural Center on July 12, and a series of official municipal government and business meetings.

The Sister Cities Program was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to promote closer communications among nations. The headquarters of the organization is in Washington and the president of the United States serves as its honorary chairman.

Chicago is sister city to 16 cities throughout the world, and Kyiv was added to the sister city roster in July of 1991. The program is administered through the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs under the jurisdiction of the Mayor's Office.

Initially such programs concentrated on cultural exchanges, but they gradually expanded into other spheres, such as educational and humanitarian activities. Currently, as in the entire world, economic and trade issues have become the stimulus for most activities between cities. In the current climate of limited municipal budgets, programs such as the sister cities exchanges work very closely with the corporate community and with other sources in order to support their activities.

The Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee initiated a series of steps to improve relations between the two sister cities. Marta Farion, appointed by Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley in August 1995 as chairperson of the committee, traveled to Kyiv in November 1995 to meet with the mayor of Kyiv and that city's representatives in the areas of culture and trade. With a renewed sense of mutual cooperation, both sides agreed to plan a series of events that would improve communications and understanding between them and programs that would benefit both cities culturally and economically. Both sides understood that the sister cities program was a very suitable vehicle for Kyiv's effort to join the world community in terms of cultural and economic image, and that for Chicago it was an opportunity to expand its business and cultural base.

The fifth anniversary of the signing of the Chicago-Kyiv agreement was targeted as the occasion to bring Kyiv into the public light in Chicago. The Chicago Grant Park Music Festival, which was founded in 1935 and has been host to some of the world's greatest music stars, agreed to include the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra in its season of performances. The Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee invited corporations interested in doing business in Ukraine to become the primary sponsors of the concerts, as it became clear that the costs involved in such a project would be prohibitive for individuals or the Ukrainian community in Chicago.

Motorola Corp. became the leading sponsor of the concerts with McDonald's Corp. as the contributing sponsor. Other major contributors and sponsors included Altheimer and Gray, FMC Corp., Redex Packaging Corp., the Fairmont Hotel, John and Tamara Tyshchenko of the Ramada Inn, Andy Koziy's Limousine Service and many others. This understanding between the business and the cultural communities became the key to the success of all the events that followed.

The Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of acclaimed conductor Roman Kofman, played two concerts in Grant Park featuring the music of Handel, Mozart, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Barber and Dvorak. The highlights of the programs, however, were the rarely performed "Malediction" by Liszt, superbly performed with the orchestra by pianist Mykola Suk, the Schnittke Concerto Grosso for Two Violins, Harpsichord, Prepared Piano and Strings, and the American premiere of works by Ukrainian composer Levko Kolodub titled "Turivna Song Suite," composed in 1993.

The concerts were reviewed by Chicago's two leading daily newspapers, The Chicago Tribune and The Sun Times. Both reviews devoted substantial space and published photographs of the orchestra and the conductor, providing an outstanding opportunity for the Ukrainian musicians and emphasizing a very positive image of Ukraine.

Lawrence Johnson of the Tribune stated that "The Kyiv orchestra's performance was riveting principally due to violinists Vadim Borissov and Oleg Tchebotourov, whose playing of the concertante parts was quite extraordinary." He continued: "Led by no-nonsense principal conductor Roman Kofman, the Ukrainian string orchestra displayed both individual virtuosity and a rich, Slavic tonal warmth."

Wynn Delacoma of The Sun Times commented that the orchestra's "tone is lean and focused," giving "the faint dissonant folk tunes of Kolodub's 'Turivna Song Suite' urgency and clarity."

It is interesting to note that Mr. Kolodub was born in the village of Turiv in 1930 and, as musicologist Roman Sawycky Jr. noted, "These are not exact reproductions or quotations of songs, but rather translations of vocal expressions into instrumental form. The ancient songs, which depict summer rituals or events, are imbued with local folk humor and temperament."

After the critical and popular acclaim of the orchestra's Grant Park performances, a reception to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the sister cities program was held at the stately and historic building of the Chicago Cultural Center on July 12. This reception included a brief performance by the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, an official program and a reception. The program was attended by Ambassador of Ukraine Yuri Shcherbak and his wife, Maria; an official delegation of Kyiv' s city administration, which included Deputy-Mayor Volodymyr Romashko, Head of the Department of Culture Alexander Bystrushkin, Head of the Foreign Relations Department Vyacheslav Lockshin; Consul General of Ukraine in Chicago Victor A. Kyryk and his wife, Svitlana; the consuls and corps of the Ukrainian Consulate General in Chicago; many consuls of the international diplomatic community; numerous representatives of civic and business organizations and corporations.

The city of Chicago was officially represented by Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Lois Weisberg, who stressed Chicago's commitment to its Ukrainian sister city. Many other city departments also were represented at the reception.

The Ukrainian community of Chicago supported the event with its presence and support, and the solidarity of all its major organizations and leaders.

It is noteworthy that the Consulate General of Poland and the Polish National Alliance were represented by many individuals, among them Consul General Michail Grochowski and PNA President Edward Moskal. The event was also attended by many representatives of the Russian and Jewish communities of Chicago, who trace their roots to Kyiv and enthusiastically supported all the programs.

The master of ceremonies, attorney Marta Farion, emphasized the three timely events that underscored the gathering: five years of Chicago and Kyiv as sister cities, five years of Ukrainian independence and the adoption of the new Constitution of Ukraine.

Ambassador Shcherbak addressed the audience about the significance of the new constitutional order in Ukraine and also emphasized his allegiance to his native city of Kyiv.

Commissioner Weisberg greeted the official delegation of Kyiv and read the Reaffirmation Proclamation of the Chicago-Kyiv Program, which was signed the same day by Mayor Daley. Ms. Weisberg and Kyiv's Commissioner of Culture Bystrushin agreed that there will be a Kyiv Street named in Chicago and a Chicago Street named in Kyiv in the near future.

During the three days of the official visit by the Kyiv city delegation, the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee organized a series of meetings at Motorola Corp., several leading corporations negotiating for contracts in Ukraine, the Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Water Filtration Plant, which deals with purification of drinking water.

A meeting was held also with representatives of the Jewish United Federation, where many issues were discussed, among them Jewish-Ukrainian relations in the city of Kyiv and humanitarian aid to the needy.

Tours of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River and other activities that emphasize tourism as an industry were conducted. The delegation also attended a meeting with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. and with Ukrainian community leaders.

But the highlight of the meetings was an official visit with Mayor Daley, who postponed a previously planned trip out of town in order to meet with Ambassador Shcherbak and officials from Ukraine. Mayor Daley signed the reaffirmation of the agreement between the two cities and both sides stated their support for future exchange programs.

The success and goodwill established by these events were in no small measure a reflection of the positive attitude and exceptional cooperation among the committee members, the officials and staff of the city of Chicago, the sponsors, the Chicago Consulate General of Ukraine and the Ukrainian side. The work and assistance of committee members Sviatoslav Lychyk, Lubomyr Krushelnycky, Vera Eliashevsky, Lidia Shandor and Lydia Truchly cannot be overestimated. There were many volunteers from the Ukrainian community and outside the community who helped. The participation of young students and professionals was a stimulus for future similar events.