The Ukrainian Classical Voice Project proudly presented Voices of Resilience, an interdisciplinary lecture-recital developed in collaboration with Cornell University, enabled by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and sponsored by the Institute for European Studies.

Interweaving live performance, poetry, personal narrative, film, and spoken reflection, the program explored the role of the arts as a vehicle for resilience, peacebuilding, solidarity, and intercultural understanding. Beginning with Ukrainian music, history, and poetry, Voices of Resilience expanded into a broader dialogue among cultural traditions and lived experiences, bringing Ukrainian, Uyghur, African American, American, and Latin American voices into conversation around themes of resistance, displacement, healing, identity, freedom, and belonging. The program moved from Ukrainian music and poetry and a film on Uyghur resistance to African American music, original songwriting, and Latin American repertoire.

Ukrainian repertoire formed an important foundation of the program, with works by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, Mykola Lysenko, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Stepan Charnetsky, Hryhory Kytasty, and Maryna Krut performed by guest artists tenor Casey Gray, soprano Teryn Kuzma and Cornell students. Poetry held an equally significant place, bringing together Lesia Ukrainka’s Contra Spem Spero!, Professor Krystyna Golovakova’s original poem Last Night I Dreamed of Ukraine, written from the perspective of a Ukrainian refugee, and Sophia Holubowsky’s original poem Ukrainian Refugees. Together, music and the spoken word connected Ukraine’s literary and musical heritage with contemporary experiences of war, displacement, cultural memory, national identity, resilience, and hope. 

The second half widened this conversation through African American music, original songwriting, and Latin American repertoire, accompanied by reflections on music as a bridge-builder, healing wounds, and intercultural dialogue. Dr. Floydd Ricketts, Artist-in-Residence and Choral Director at Skidmore College, opened Act II with his presentation Music Is a Bridge-Builder, exploring music’s capacity to create connection across cultures and lived experiences. Guest artists Kayla Carpenter, Adam Jaggernauth, Arya and Niam Parikh were followed by Cornell students bringing the message to life through original compositions, traditional spirituals and music by Joan Báez, Rocio Dúrcal, Stephen Flaherty, David Foster. Rather than presenting resilience as the story of a single people, the program invited artists, scholars, and students from different backgrounds to consider how communities preserve identity, respond to adversity, heal wounds, and use artistic expression to affirm human dignity. 

Through this convergence of music, poetry, scholarship, personal experience, and cultural traditions, Voices of Resilience affirmed that distinct histories and identities can be honored while also creating meaningful points of connection across communities. The event placed Ukrainian cultural experience within a wider international dialogue about cultural memory, migration, resistance, peace, and our shared humanity, reflecting UCVP’s continuing belief in the power of artistic collaboration to foster understanding across cultures.

The event was co-produced by UCVP founder Irina Petrik and UCVP Board Member Mira DeGregory, then a senior in Global Development at Cornell University. DeGregory played an instrumental role in bringing Voices of Resilience to life, helping shape and coordinate its interdisciplinary and intercultural vision. In recognition of her commitment to peacebuilding and her work uplifting internationally marginalized voices, including her efforts in co-producing and performing in Voices of Resilience, she was named a 2026 recipient of Cornell University’s Harrop and Ruth Freeman Prize in Peace Studies. 

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