OBSERVATIONS: Music at the Institute (01/29/06)

OBSERVATIONS: Music at the Institute

by Walter Prochorenko

I can't imagine a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than to listen to a concert by young musicians from various New York universities in the acoustically superb second-floor meeting room at the Ukrainian Institute of American on 79th Street. After a brisk walk in New York's Central Park on a balmy January day, the coziness of the historical building, the compactness of the premises where the concert was held and the wonderful music made for an exceptional experience.

I'm by no means a music critic, a musician, or an expert on music. My own experiences with music consisted of scaring away domestic animals and rodents in our Belgian village neighborhood when in my youth I started to play my accordion. But my passion has always been classical music - I adore it.

The concert at the institute was performed by a group called Musiciens sans Frontières under the direction of George Stelluto. The 16 string instrumentalists in the group come from various music schools and universities in New York and their claim to fame is that they also have or will participate in music programs in various countries around the world - hence the name, which translates as Musicians without Borders.

Some of the participants have already initiated programs in such faraway places as Moldova, Romania, Brazil, the Philippines and Ukraine. Their philosophy and goal is to bring classical musical culture to everyone but also to learn from the local music of the people of the various lands.

The concert itself consisted of three pieces: "Rounds" by American composer David Diamond, a vivacious and uplifting work; Symphony No. 3 by Ivan Karabyts of Ukraine, which was a U.S. premiere; and William Shuman's Symphony No. 5, which is a complex piece illustrating Shuman's well-known schizophrenic style.

The Karabyts symphony would have been suitable for a good Dracula movie score. It was at the same time mournful, haunting and angry. Music Director Stelluto also pointed out that at times the symphony displayed glimpses of hope and happiness, but these quickly gave in to the general theme of hopelessness. This was somewhat reminiscent of Ukraine's own situation since gaining independence.

It was exhilarating to listen to such great music, and hear every note and nuance without the aid of any electronic gadget. But what made it even more so was to "see" the music played, and to see the young musicians' enthusiasm and love for their art.

The only sad part was to look around the audience and see the sparsely attended event. The room could have accommodated twice or even three times the number of listeners. Similar events in Kyiv, or even at a Polish concert of this type in New York, would have brought in 10 to 20 times the audience. Perhaps the i-Pod culture has really overtaken the social needs for such musical events. I would hate to think this is the case. How can we reach out and get Ukrainians to support such events?

Dr. Walter Prochorenko is currently director of publications at the Ukrainian National Association. His previous experience consists of over 30 years as a multi-national entrepreneur, wealth management advisor and business consultant in international business. Part of his business experience consisted of establishing and running several successful development businesses in Ukraine for a period of over eight and a half years. Dr. Prochorenko obtained his Ph.D. in international business and wrote his dissertation on the economic and political situation of Ukraine since independence.

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