Institute to host benefit for Svito-Vyd journal (02/01/98)

Institute to host benefit for Svito-Vyd journal

NEW YORK - On Saturday, February 7, the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York will host an evening of music and theater with the participation of a number of well-known figures in music and theater. The event, whose aim is to benefit the journal Svito-Vyd, is sponsored jointly by the institute and the New York Group, the association of avant-garde Ukrainian émigré writers.

The journal, a quarterly devoted to literature and the arts, has been coming out since 1989 and was the first joint effort of this type between the diaspora and Ukraine. It is published by the New York Group and the Writers' Union of Ukraine. This is the second benefit for Svito-Vyd; the first took place in February 1996, also at the Ukrainian Institute of America.

The musical part of the evening will feature the Ukrainian pianist Mykola Suk and the Polish cellist Wanda Glowacka in Beethoven's Sonata for cello and piano, Op. 5, No. 1 in F Major. Both of the artists have appeared in the institute's musical series of which Mr. Suk is the artistic director. Ms. Glowacka is the winner of the Concertino Praha International Competition; Mr. Suk is laureate of the Liszt-Bartok competition.

The Ukrainian soprano Alexandra Hrabova, originally with the Lviv Opera but currently residing in this country, will give a recital of arias and songs from her repertoire. She is the winner of the Lysenko International Vocal Competition in Odesa. Her accompanist will be Inna Leitush.

The theater part will feature Gregory Hlady and the New York Art Theater under the direction of Anatole Fourmantchouk.

Mr. Hlady, a director and actor of stage and screen, is a native of Ukraine. Since the early 1980s he has been living in Montreal, where he directs, teaches and acts in theater and television productions, as well as films.

His first major role was that of Prince Fernando in the 1980 production of Calderon de la Barca's "The Constant Prince" at Molodizhny (now Molodyi) Teatr (Young Theater) in Kyiv. The play was made famous by Ryszard Cieslak in a milestone staging by Jerzy Grotowski in the 1960s. Last summer in Switzerland he conducted a workshop devoted to a project based on Mykola Hohol's "Ukrainian" stories. His Montreal staging of Harold Pinter's "The Return" won the 1992 Prix de la Critique. Mr. Hlady will present an excerpt from his recent work based on Dostoyevsky.

Mr. Fourmantchouk, also a native of Ukraine, came to this country three years ago and resides in the New York area.

He teaches at the Michael Howard Studio in New York and is the founder and artistic director of the New York Art Theater, whose aim is to expose American audiences to the most interesting recent international theater trends and serve as a conduit for international stage talent, including that from Ukraine.

Mr. Fourmantchouk served as the artistic director at the Kyiv Teatr Yunoho Hliadacha (Theater of the young spectator) where he staged "Metamorphoses," based on Ionesco's and Beckett's plays. His staging of "Romeo and Juliet" in the all-male Learned Monkey Moscow production toured Great Britain to great acclaim. He also staged Garcia Lorca's "El Publico" at the Madrid Cuatro Paredes Theater. The New York Art Theater will present excerpts from "Romeo and Juliet" with Stas Klassen and Christopher Cartmill.

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