PNW Kobzar Project: Autumn Waltz
$30 (ages 16 & under free)
- Anne Botka, guitar
- Dilyara Oliver, piano
- Ksenia Popova, soprano
- Mark Hilliard Wilson, guitar
Charles Gounod — "Je veux vivre dans le reve" (Juliet's Waltz) from Roméo et Juliette ("Romeo and Juliet")
Jean Sibelius — Valse Triste, Op. 44, No. 1
Emmanuel Chabrier — Selected works
Myroslav Volynsky — Selected works
Gabriel Fauré — Selected works
Mykola Lysenko — Selected works
Oleg Boyko — Selected works
Sergiy Bortkevych (Sergei Bortkiewicz) — Selected works
Raushan Kali — Selected works
Adilzhan Tolykpaev — Selected works
Abai Qunanbaiuly — Selected works
Waltz. Music of beauty and melancholy. Leaves waltzing with the wind. Every movement feels both a farewell and a welcome to the next chapter.
Our special autumn recital will present world famous waltzes, forgotten and rediscovered works of European romantic composers, and contemporary classical music from Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Recital program highlights:
Chant d'automne by Theodor Akimenko
"Julliet's Waltz" by Charles Gounod
Valse Triste by Jean Sibelius
Our program will also include art songs by Emmanuel Chabrier and Myroslav Volynsky, cello and piano duos by Gabriel Faure and Mykola Lysenko, solo guitar music by Oleg Boyko, solo piano music by Sergei Bortkiewicz, Raushan Kali, Adilzhan Tolykpaev, and Abai Qunanbaiuly.
Refreshments provided at no charge.
About PNW Kobzar Project
PNW Kobzar Project continues the authentic Ukrainian kobzar tradition of story telling via the language of music and art songs.
Kobzar (Ukrainian кобзар) literally means 'kobza player', a performer on Ukrainian stringed instrument of the lute family, and more broadly — a performer of the musical material associated with the kobzar tradition. The professional kobzar tradition was established during the Hetmanate Era around the sixteenth century in Ukraine. Kobzars accompanied their singing with a musical instrument known as the kobza, bandura, or lira. Their repertoire primarily consisted of para-liturgical psalms and "kanty", and also included a unique epic form known as "dumas" (Ukrainian equivalent of epic ballads, literal translated to English as "thoughts").
Kobzardom in Ukraine is similar to Western European poet-musician tradition such as Celtic bards, Old Nord/Eddic scalds, French troubadours, and Greek kitharodes. In Ukraine the word kobzar is associated with the great national poet Taras Shevchenko who was greatly influenced by kobzar traditions. His most famous poetry collection is called Kobzar. Urkainians show Taras Shevchenko the deep respect to his contributions to Ukrainian language and literature by calling him Kobzar. In PNW Kobzar Project concerts, we will include art songs based on Taras Shevchenko’s lyrics as well as the instrumental chamber music inspired by his literary and artistic heritage.
In addition to artistic aspect, kobzars were also old Ukrainian tradition keepers and news spreaders while traveling town to town and village to village. They played the role of the social media independent from the state authorities. During the time of serf system introduced to Ukraine by the Russian Empire (1783-1861) kobzars were those few people in Ukraine who could travel and speak freely though both administrative state and religious authorities of the Russian Empire did everything possible to reduce the influence of kobzars.
https://pnwkobzarproject.bandzoogle.comAbout Anne Botka, guitar
Anne Botka is a cellist in Symphony Tacoma and is assistant principal cellist of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra. She also performed with Pacific Northwest Ballet for their recent production, The Times Are Racing. Anne holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and lives in Olympia, Washington.
https://www.olympiasymphony.org/musicians?pgid=lws8rros-ee1c7417-cdc9-49c4-be76-f83fd797cf4cAbout Dilyara Oliver, piano
Dilyara Oliver is a classical pianist. She completed her training in Piano Performance at Kazakh National Conservatory. Then she attended University of New Orleans with a full merit-based scholarship, where she earned a Master of Music in Piano Performance degree.
Prior to her move to Olympia, WA in 2022, Dilyara was a faculty member at Loyola University New Orleans and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. She also served as the president for the New Orleans Music Teachers Association. Her students have won city and state competitions, and have also performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
While in New Orleans, she has made guest appearances at the French Quarter Festival, Jazz and Heritage Festival, Snug Harbor, New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale performances, MetroPelican Opera productions, Jefferson Performing Arts Society, Trinity Recital Series,
https://musiconmusic.com/About Ksenia Popova, soprano
Soprano Ksenia Popova has been hailed by The News Tribune as "a soprano to watch." Ms. Popova has sung the roles of Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Juliette (Gounod's Roméo et Juliette), Micaela (Carmen), Polly Peachum (The Threepenny Opera), Josephine (H.M.S Pinafore)with Tacoma Opera, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) with Pacific Northwest Opera, Josephine (H.M.S Pinafore) with Opera Coeur d'Alene, and Juliette (Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette), Gilda (Rigoletto), Adele (Die Fledermaus) with Vashon Opera.
https://www.kseniapopova.com/About Mark Hilliard Wilson, guitar
Mark Hilliard Wilson is an active performer, teacher, and director of the Seattle Guitar Orchestra, which he founded in 1999. As cathedral guitarist at Seattle's St. James Cathedral, he has performed there weekly since 2006. Wilson has written or arranged more than 200 works, and avidly explores new venues for the performance of classical music while addressing contemporary issues through concert programming. Music has always been everything to Wilson, from the barrel organs he heard in his childhood in Holland to the symphony orchestras in Washington, DC and country bands in Weiser, Idaho. He continues to study and embrace the wonder of new places and the creativity of the wonderful artists of every stripe in the world.
https://markhilliardwilson.com/