Aquilon Music Festival & PNW Kobzar Project: The Forest Tale
$40
- Anton Belov, baritone
- Cassio Vianna, piano (jazz)
- Valentyn Lysenko, bandura
- Mark Hilliard Wilson, guitar
- Megan Joy Belov, soprano
- Dilyara Oliver, piano
Oleg Boyko — The Old Forest Tales (US premiere)
Myroslav Volynsky — Selected works (art songs TBA)
Francesco Santoliquido — Selected works
Robert Schumann — Selected works
Richard Strauss — Selected works
Gentle sounds of bandura, romantic art songs, jazz improvisations, and US premiers of Ukrainian chamber music - all in our concert inspired by the themes of revival of nature and human spirit.
The moving and engaging program includes traditional and modern melodies played on a bandura (the iconic Ukrainian psaltery), rarely performed Italian and German art songs of the Romantic era, chamber music for solo piano and classical guitar, and jazz improvisations of your favorite songs. The art songs and piano works by Francesco Santoliquido, Robert Schumann, and Richard Strauss will be performed alongside the Ukrainian chamber music of the 19th and 20th Centuries by Mykola Lysenko, Borys Lyatoshynsky, and Stanislav Liudkevych. We proudly present the US premiere of the classical guitar suite The Old Forest Tales by Oleg Boyko and the selected art songs by Myroslav Volynsky.
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 Anton Belov, baritone
About Cassio Vianna, piano (jazz)
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/About Megan Joy Belov, soprano
About 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/