Young violinist continues to realize his dream, enters music academy (09/19/04)

Young violinist continues to realize his dream, enters music academy

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ihor Lobok, the diminutive, shy, 15-year-old street violinist who won a street musician competition in Kyiv last year and captured the hearts of dozens of Ukrainian Americans with his story, may be on his way to a professional career in music and the realization of his dream.

On September 1 the wunderkind musician began studies at the world-renowned Gliere Music Academy in Kyiv, a music school associated with such historically regarded names as Horowitz, Rubinstein, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.

"I am thankful and I am happy that I am going to continue to play," commented Mr. Lobok on September 7.

The young violinist, who completed an elementary school that put an emphasis on music studies, received word that he had been accepted to Gliere Academy in early August after having done well in his entrance examinations.

It was evident even before the testing was over that matters were well in hand when the director of Gliere Academy wondered aloud during a meeting with The Weekly what was it with this boy, who had somehow spurred letters of support for his ambitions to study at Gliere from the City of Kyiv and the Office of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, as well as The Weekly. It was The Weekly that first published the story of how Ihor had played a school-issued violin on Kyiv's streets in his off hours for money to support himself, his sick mother and his older sister.

In the end it was Ihor's talent - not political support in an election year or trans-Atlantic moral and financial support from the diaspora - that opened the doors to the prestigious academy. Yet, the way destiny seems to have taken charge and events have unfolded in support of Ihor's ambitions has been quite striking.

Ihor's story began when he responded to a call by the Union of Humanists, a loosely bound organization of college students and journalists, to street musicians to take part in a festival in March 2003 in support of their way of life, which was called "Songs of the Underground."

The 15-year-old, who was "discovered" by Oleksii Usachov, a college student and member of the Union of Humanists who had taken notice of Ihor's playing on the streets of Kyiv and convinced him to enter the competition. Ihor ended up winning first prize in the event.

His victory in the competition, along with his story, was documented in The Weekly. It was then that the Ukrainian American community learned how the young violinist played for hours on the historic Andriyivsky Uzviz to support his sister and himself; how his mother had died two years earlier of cancer and how Ihor had played to gather the money to buy the medicine that prolonged her life; and, finally, how his father could not properly support the children because of his own chronic illness. Readers also learned that Ihor's dream was to own his own violin and play professionally.

Ukrainian Americans spontaneously reacted to the moving story and began sending donations in support of Ihor's dream to The Weekly offices in Parsippany, N.J. In all, more than a dozen individuals contributed nearly $1,200 to Ihor's cause. The young boy's immediate dream - his own violin - quickly became a reality and a German-made model was purchased for him in Kyiv soon after the story was published.

The second part of the dream, however, would require more initiative on Ihor's part. As it turned out, he was quite up to the task. At the beginning of 2004 Ihor took up with a professor at Gliere Academy, Leonid Shuchmann, to prepare for the highly competitive entrance examinations.

At first Mr. Shuchmann had reservations about Ihor's extreme shyness, which he said could manifest into an inability to express the music fully, and was concerned with his technique, which had some shortcomings due to the frequency he played without supervision. Nonetheless he agreed that the young boy definitely had talent. Most notably, Mr. Shuchmann, who initially had agreed to work with Ihor as a paid instructor, soon decided that he would do it pro bono as a gift to the boy.

Another major break came Ihor's way when he was introduced as the previous year's winner during the 2004 Music of the Underground Festival, which was noted by the Kyiv press. The event registered a response in the Cultural Affairs Office of the City of Kyiv, headed by former Ukrainian actor Oleksander Bystriushkyn.

Mr. Bystriushkyn fired off a letter to Gliere Academy, where Ihor had just applied, suggesting to the institution that "if Ihor dreams of entering Gliere Academy, we can only hope that his dreams are fulfilled."

Mr. Bystriushkyn noted in his letter that the Kyiv city government had passed a resolution in April 2000 that offered stipends to "talented but impoverished students of institutions of higher learning." (Gliere Academy offers both a high school and university-level program and ideally takes students from 10th grade through college. It is officially registered as an institution of higher education.) Thus, the city was ready to pay tuition, as well as provide the young musician some pocket change.

It seems that when a letter from the Office of the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada also arrived on the desk of Gliere Academy's director, Serhii Volkov, inquiring about the teenager's situation, Ihor's future was decided. Even so, Ihor still had to perform on his instrument, show some vocal talent and pass a basic writing test before he would be admitted - as had so many other aspiring talents in the school's 136-year history.

Gliere Academy, which has eight specializations, including piano, orchestral strings, folk singing and choir conducting, was founded in 1868. Today it is internationally known for its Vladimir Horowitz Competition, an annual international contest for young piano prodigies. It counts among its graduates the pianists Horowitz, Simon Barer and Alexander Brilovsky, along with the composer Lev Revutsky. Prominent benefactors over the years have included such notable historic figures as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Anton Rubinstein.

Whether Ihor will reach those heights will only come to light in some distant future. For now, he is intent on his studies and his street music, which he said he had no intention of giving up because, for one, he liked to play to live audiences.

"Sometimes I just want to play," explained Ihor. "Now I think that I will be able to learn a lot of new compositions."

| Home Page |