(SPLEN)DOOR TO UKRAINE: A Guide to Ukrainian Music

Season 3 of a series of chamber concerts and contemporary/electronic experimental music. The aim of organising this series is to introduce the Dutch public to the hidden gems of Ukrainian music from the second half of the 20th century and to enter into the artistic context of Ukraine at that time.

Antonii Baryshevsky, the Ukrainian pianist and curator of this series, will perform the music.

Ihor Sukhorukov, a Ukrainian culture enthusiast, will help explore the music's context.

Experimental/ Electronic:

1st May, 20.15 – VESNYANKY [SPRING SONGS] Splendor, Amsterdam, NL.  More details here.

6th May, 20.00 – VESNYANKY [SPRING SONGS] Goodmesh, Deen Haag, NL. More details here.

Ukrainian folk songs reimagined by an electroacoustic ensemble.

A true spring can only begin when the VESNYANKY—Ukrainian folk spring songs—are sung. Some chase away the lingering winter cold, while others welcome the sun, the birds, and the blossoming earth.

Maryana Golovchenko, voice

Oksana Mukosii, viola

Vladyslav Petryk, clarinet

Anna Antipova, violin, electronics

Antonii Baryshevskyi, piano, synth

---

1st June, 20.15 – CONTEMPORARY UKRAINIAN VIRTUOSITY IN A CONTEXT

Splendor, Amsterdam, NL.  More details here.

Violinist Orest Smovzh, based in Helsinki, presents an evening of bold and thought-provoking music that reimagines what solo violin playing can be in the 21st century. At the heart of the program are three newly-commissioned Ukrainian works—world premieres written in 2024—that stretch the boundaries of traditional virtuosity by embracing fragility, introspection, and theatricality.

These new caprices and études are placed in dialogue with works by European composers who similarly challenge the historical ideals of technical showmanship. The result is a concert that invites listeners to reconsider what it means to be virtuosic today—not only in terms of speed and dexterity, but also in expressive nuance, risk-taking, and emotional depth.

Throughout the performance, Smovzh offers insights and commentary, guiding the audience through the music’s ideas and contexts.

Orest Smovzh, violin

---

Check about previous edition No.2 and edition No. 1 

Highlights from the second edition of the (SPLEN)DOOR TO UKRAINE: A Guide to Ukrainian Music series. 29th January – Liatoshynsky 130 Piano recital with lecture dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the great Ukrainian composer Boris Liatoshynsky.  17th February – ҐІЛЬДЕҐАРДА (Hildegard) Unique reimagining of Hildegard von Bingen's music. It combines the vocal sound production approaches of authentic Ukrainian folk singing with the modular synthesis techniques drawing from high mediaeval polyphony and monophony. Heinali, modular synthesizer.

Andriana-Yaroslava Saienko, folk singer.

8th March – LIMBO A heart-to-heart solo program by  Viktoriia Vitrenko for voice and piano.

23d March – BABRYLON The project is fundamentally multi-genre: it includes field recordings, drone music, classical music, jazz, noise, and lo-fi folk performed by Antonii Baryshevskyi.

Photo credits: Artem Sergeev