Portland Chamber Orchestra: From Darkness To Light
$44 ($39 senior, $19 student)
- Michelle Bushkova, violin & piano
- Ken Selden, guest conductor
Victor Copytsko — Violin Concerto "Michelle Concerto" (world premiere; Michelle Bushkova, violin)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K. 488 (Michelle Bushkova, piano)
The multi-talented soloist Michelle Bushkova joins the Portland Chamber Orchestra with not one but two concerti performed on two different instruments. This remarkable program will begin with Mozart's instantly recognizable Symphony No. 40, K. 550, followed by a world premiere of the Belarussian composer Victor Copytsko's "Michelle" Concerto for Violin Solo, Violoncello Obligato, Clavier obligato (Pianoforte and Cembalo), and Chamber Orchestra, a work composed for our featured soloist. For the second half, Michelle will return to the stage this time as piano soloist to perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, K. 488.
Both composer and soloist have faced hardship and persecution for speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, therefore this concert is presented as a statement in support of the people of Ukraine and all who bravely defend justice and freedom of speech.
Lastly, we will display photos in the lobby by Jim Lommasson, a local photographer, from his current project: What We Carried: Fragments from the Cradle of Civilization. Mr. Lommasson's work will also be shown on an overhead screen in the theater prior to the concert and during the intermission.
Read about the story behind this performance in PCO's recent blog post: https://portlandchamberorchestra.org/blog/concert-explores-refugee-experience
Please join us for a pre-concert discussion featuring a panel of refugees telling their stories at 6:30pm (ticket for the concert required for entry).
About Michelle Bushkova, violin & piano
Michelle Bushkova was born in Moscow in 2004. She continues the family traditions in music in the third generation. At the age of four she started violin lessons with professor Galina Turchaninova. In the following year she enrolled into the preparation program by the Gnessin State Musical College in the piano class of Professor Tatiana Zelikman. Since 2011 she has studied music at two prominent Moscow music schools: piano at Gnessin and violin at the Central Music school by the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Michelle Bushkova took part in violin masterclasses by Ilya & Olga Kaler (USA), Pavel Vernikov & Svetlana Makarova (Switzerland) and the "Keshet Eilon" International string masterclasses in Israel. On the piano she has attended masterclasses by Stephen Kovacevich (England), Anna Malikova (Germany), and Victoria Mushkatkol (USA). She also receives a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participates in the intensive music weeks held there.
Michelle is a laureate of "Goldene Note" Audition in Vienna, the "Manhattan International Music Competition" and the "Berlin International Music Competition."
Several days before her 6th birthday she made her solo debut performance as violinist and pianist with the Belarusian State chamber orchestra in Minsk. Michelle performed with orchestras in Moscow, Minsk, Saratov, Yaroslavl, Istanbul, Ankara (Turkey). She has appeared in the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Pushkin Museum's Museyon Hall in Moscow, the Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Svetlanov's Hall of the Moscow International House of Music, the National Center of the Performing Arts NCPA in Mumbai and the Wiener Konzerthaus.
Michelle Bushkova participated in the Musica Mundi Chamber music Festival in Belgium, the Gstaad New Year Music Festival in Switzerland, Stay-in-May International World Festival in Naples, Florida, the Rheingau Festival and the Moscow Autumn Contemporary Music Festival.
About Ken Selden, guest conductor
Since arriving in Portland in 2006, Ken Selden has appeared as guest conductor of the Oregon Symphony, Third Angle New Music Ensemble, Salem Chamber Orchestra, Eugene Symphony, Portland Youth Philharmonic, and the Newport Symphony. Most recently, his two CD recordings of Mahler and Debussy arrangements with the newly established Martingale Ensemble were released on MSR Classics.
Following Selden's appointment as Music Director, the Portland State University Orchestra has received three awards in Adventurous Programming from ASCAP and the League of American Orchestras.
https://www.pdx.edu/profile/ken-selden