Northern Kentucky University music students from Ukraine perform in Cincinnati (04/21/02)

Northern Kentucky University music students from Ukraine perform in Cincinnati

by Dr. Zinowij Lew Melnyk

CINCINNATI, Ohio - A "Piano and Strings Concert," featuring music students from Ukraine studying at Northern Kentucky University, was held here on March 14 in the Bankers Club. The students performed a program of works by Mozart, Schumann, Franck, Liszt and Prokofiev.

On the occasion of the concert, a brief welcome was extended by T. William Kelleher on behalf of the Bankers Club as well as by the President of Northern Kentucky University, Dr. James C. Vortuba.

The concert, held as part of the Northern Kentucky University "Presidential Concert Series," featured pianists Anna Polusmiak, Anna Sysyn and Dmytro Shelest, and string performers Taras Yaropud and Yuri Vorotnikov, violins; Serhiy Borkovsky, viola; and Yuri Pohoretsky, cello.

Misses. Polusmiak and Sysun as well as Mr. Shelest are students who are continuing their studies with Prof. Serhiy Polusmiak, professor at the Kharkiv Institute of Arts and the Special Music School for Gifted Children in Kharkiv who currently, is artist-in-residence and Neyer Family Professor of Music at Northern Kentucky University.

Messrs. Yaropud, Vorotnikov, Borkovsky and Pohoretsky are members of NKU's Amernet String Quartet and the recipients of the first scholarships provided by the Patricia A. Corbett Strings Program at NKU.

The students, ranging in age from 18 to 22, hail from Kharkiv, Kyiv and Kamianets-Podilskyi. They have taken part in various young artists competitions in Ukraine, Russia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and have performed on many occasions in Ukraine, Europe, Latin America, Japan and Egypt, as well as North America.

Brief profiles of the performers follow.

Taras Yaropud, violinist, is the winner of both the First Prize and the Grand Prize at the Ukrainian Young Artists Competition (1998). He toured Europe as member of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra (1999-2001).
Yuri Vorotnikov, violinist, studied at the Kharkiv Special Music School for Gifted Children (KhSMSG), and continued his studies at the Kharkiv Institute of the Arts (2000). He took part in music festivals in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, as well as Egypt and Austria.
Serhiy Borkovsky, violist, studied at the Kyiv Conservatory.
Yuri Pohoretsky, cello, is a graduate of the KhSMSGC. He is a laureate of the Prokofiev International Competition, Moscow, 1995 (third prize); International Chamber Competition, Moscow, 1996 (second prize); and the first Dotzauer International Cello Competition, Dresden, Germany 1998, (special prize).
Anna Polusmiak attended KhSMSGC, where she was a student of her father, Prof. Serhiy Polusmiak. She is a winner of the Milosz Magin International Piano Competition, Paris (third prize); Nikolai Rubenstein International Piano Competition, Paris (second prize); International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz (diploma) as well as laureate at the Concerto Competition, Eastern Music Festival, Greensboro, N.C.; and the Kentucky Music Teachers Association Collegiate Competition. She has performed with the Luhansk Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and L'Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal.
Anna Sysyn, a graduate of KhSMSGC, took part in the Czerny International Young Artists Piano Competition, Prague, Czech Republic; and various music festivals, among them the International Music Festival in Feodosia, Ukraine, and the Summer Piano Institute at Northern Kentucky University.
Dmitri Shelest, is a diploma and special prize recipient at the International Piano Competition in Memory of Pavel Lutsenko, Kharkiv (1995); and a prize-winner of the International Piano Competition in Memory of Pavel Serebriakov, Russia (2000). He participated in the International Corpus Christi Young Artist's Competition, Texas (2001).

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