UKRAINE UPDATE- MUSIC

 

Mother Felicitas’ son (a tenured professor at Dartmouth and expert on Russian politics) was just here, and as usual gives us an update on the on-going crises in the Ukraine. This reminded me that in the British music magazine we receive from a neighbor (See Blog February 23), I found another Ukrainian musician in this last month’s issue. In looking him up I found an article from The Flute View from April 1, 2022.

DENIS SAVELYEV is flute player from Lviv. He was the first-prize winner of the 2017 NYFC Competition, “Rising Star'' at the 2021 Galway Flute Festival, and Young Artist of 2019 NFA. Denis began studying flute at the young age of five. After completing a combined Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the ‘Gnessin Academy of Music in Moscow, he moved to the USA to pursue a MM and Professional Studies at the Mannes School of Music, The New School University, where he studied under Judith Mendenhall. He was later a member of The Orchestra Now, graduating from Bard College with a Master’s degree in Curatorial, Critical, and Performance Studies. Currently, Denis is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in the studio of Marina Piccinini.

 Denis has won multiple prizes, including the 1st Prize at the New York Flute Club Competition, the New Jersey Flute Society, and the 2nd Prize at the Young Artist Competition of the National Flute Association. 

Orchestrally, he has worked with the Mariinsky Theater in Vladivostok, as well as with Orchestra Now, the Manhattan Symphonie, and the New York Symphonic Ensemble on its Japanese tour in 2016

He has performed at various international venues, including the Kennedy Center in Washington DC; Merkin Concert Hall, the Morgan Library, and the Metropolitan Museum in NYC; Lviv Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus; Suntory Hall in Tokyo, as well as Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, under conductors such as Neeme Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Hans Graf, Gerard Schwarz (of Seattle), and Tan Dun. 

In The Flute View, Denis expressed great worry and his sorrow at the state of things in his home country. While he and his parents are safe in the USA, many of his friends are not. He says he is usually a positive person, but watching what is happening in The Ukraine, he is not always positive.  But, he has hope that things will get better, and feels the present situation has taught the country about unity and the importance of freedom.

 Denis reminds us that musicians in Ukraine have different roles today as some are on the front line of battle (some having lost their lives), some volunteering to help refugees and other refugees themselves. Denis feels we can all help, if not financially, then at least in a thought (prayer) especially that this courageous country will survive and that its unique music will live on.