On December 16th 2022 the Ukrainian Classical Voice Project had the privilege of delivering a presentation and a lecture recital titled “The Magic of Ukrainian Song” at the Casino Club of Chicago, one of the city’s oldest society clubs.

The PowerPoint presentation focused on the history, context and musical origins of the featured pieces which were executed by the guest artist Irina Petrik and Olga Sklyanskaya, a vocal accompanist at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. The two Kyiv-born Gliere Municipal Academy alumni were overjoyed to kick off the holiday season by performing together at a historical Chicago venue as part of the UCVP educational concert series.

The audience was treated to both the popular staples and the hidden gems of Ukrainian vocal tradition, as the attendees were introduced to the treasured masterpieces written by Maksym Berezovsky, Dmytro Bortnyansky, Mykola Lysenko, Vladyslav Zaremba, Alois Jedliczka, Anatoly Kos-Anatolsky, Stanyslav Lyudkevych, Lesia Dychko, Ihor Shamo.

Along with the beautiful concert, this presentation brought to light an important and timely inquiry about the significance of sharing diverse narratives in their quest for inclusivity. By involving communities of various social backgrounds, UCVP aims to initiate a dialogue regarding the potential of music education as a fertile ground for fostering transformation, experimentation, renewal and societal growth on a broader scale.