The Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival 2022 will journey through the ancient Ukrainian landscape, mythologies of nature and centuries of agrarian life, to the modern city. From the forest to the fields to the urban jungle, explore Ukraine’s diverse landscapes as we contemplate the role of music in our planet's past, present and future.
Photo credit: Maryna Prykhodko
Forest Song
Friday, March 18 at 7:00pm
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall
Named after the 1911 poetic play by Lesia Ukrainka, this concert reveals contemporary composers’ preoccupation with the natural world and the myths of Ukrainian culture that have grown from this mysterious setting.
Photo credit: Maryna Prykhodko
In the Field
Saturday, March 19 at 8:00pm
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall
Many Ukrainian folk songs begin with the formulation “In the field…”, before describing facets of agrarian life. Our second concert explores music inspired by the folk cultures that shaped centuries of this existence.
Photo credit: Maryna Prykhodko
Anthropocene
Sunday, March 20 at 3:00pm
Kaufman Music Center, Merkin Hall
Our final concert interrogates the negative consequences of human life on the Earth, moving from the land as a site of magic and abundance to one of apocalypse and devastation—a sobering warning for the future.
Musical Landscapes: A Roundtable Discussion
Monday, March 21 at 12:00pm
Ukrainian Museum of New York
Ukrainian literary scholar and professor emeritus Myroslav Shkandrij, eco-musicologist Tyler Kinnear, and folk singer and member of Ukrainian Village Voices Asia Mieleszko explore the important role of nature in Ukrainian history and its contemporary saliency as discussion of climate becomes increasingly central.