Musik der Resilienz

Ukrainian violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv once again gives voice to her country’s rich musical heritage in “Music of Resilience.” The album addresses the ongoing war in her homeland and includes new works: Victoria Vita Polevás’s moving lament “Bucha. Lachrimosa,” as well as two pieces by Bohdan Kryvopust: the powerful memorial “On the River” and the folk-inspired “Ukrainian Suite.” Hanna Havrylets’ “Ex Libris,” composed in 1993, employs folk music techniques that emphasize ornamentation rather than development. Representing an earlier generation, the romantic works of Osyp Zalesky and Roman Prydatkevych are heard here in arrangements by Bohdana Frolyak. As an encore, Ivakhiv performs Yuriy Shevchenko’s arrangement of the Ukrainian national anthem.

Ukrainian-American violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv is an acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, and educator. Her recordings have been played on NPR’s “Performance Today,” “Sirius XM Symphony Hall,” and major classical radio stations throughout the United States, and have reached the iTunes and Spotify charts. Dr. Ivakhiv has served as the artistic director of the “Music at the Institute” (MATI) concert series in New York City since 2010, where she promotes Ukrainian classical music. She is also the artistic director of the Caspian Music Festival in Greensboro, Vermont. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and Stony Brook University, she is a professor of violin and viola and chair of the string department at the University of Connecticut. In 2021, she was awarded the title “Honored Artist of Ukraine,” the country’s highest cultural distinction.