Traditionally, at the end of March every year, the annual report concert of students of the Kyiv State Music Lyceum named after M.V. Lysenko in the Column Hall of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. Usually, March concerts were timed to the birthday of the founder of Ukrainian music, after whom the lyceum is named, Mykola Lysenko. But this year, in the conditions of prolonged military aggression towards Ukraine, the report concert is dedicated to the soldiers who protect our statehood, the right to our own language, culture, land and protect our talented children, who are forced to master performing skills in extremely difficult times of martial law. It is indicative that the children are eager to perform on stage even when there is a threat of rocket attacks, but fortunately the air raid signals did not interrupt the concert and the audience was able to enjoy the performances of the flower of the Ukrainian nation. The concert program was presented to the public by laureates of international competitions, choirs and chamber orchestra of the lyceum.
The honour of opening the concert with a performance fell to the Choir of Boys and Young Men led by the artistic director and conductor – Mariia Koval. They performed the works of Anna Havrylets and the luminaries of Ukrainian choral music – Mykola Lysenko and Mykola Leontovych. Later, the Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir took over the initiative, performing the works of our contemporaries – Oleksandr Rodin, Piotr Yanchak and Hanna Havrylets. Masterful preparation of the student choir with a program consisting of works by modern composers is the merit of the artistic director and conductor of the choir Yulia Puchko-Kolesnyk and the choirmaster – Vira Shemchuk. Majestic choral canvases have replaced the chamber performances of soloists – laureates of international and all-Ukrainian competitions, most of whom are students of the secondary classes of the lyceum. But despite their young age, our artists are already competing with experienced masters who conquer the stage of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine every day. We will hear their names more than once – Hanna Bodnaruk, Andrii Zahodiakin, Demian Shyian, Akim Kravchenko, Arsenii Katsaval and Vladyslav Sirash. These young performers popularize the works of Mykola Lysenko, Nestor Nyzhankivskyi, Yurii Shamo and other Ukrainian composers with their performances.
The high level of performance skills of the lyceum students is confirmed by the performance of works of world classics, which are familiar not only to professional musicians, but also to ordinary citizens. An example of such a brave performance was the performance of seventh-grade student Pavlo Ulianchenko, who performed Violin Concerto with Orchestra No. 1 “Spring” from Antonio Vivaldi’s “Seasons” cycle, accompanied by the Lyceum Chamber Orchestra. This performance charmed the listeners both with its virtuosity and the spring mood that was flying in the air on that March evening..
The final chord of the evening was Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (Part 1), performed by Savva Zolotariov, a fifth-grade student, and conducted by Honoured Artist of Ukraine Serhii Solonka. The concert written by the twenty-two-year-old composer successfully combines the classical form with the romantic challenges of the era of the first half of the 19th century. And we can overcome the challenges of modernity together by popularizing Ukrainian national art and supporting the defenders of Ukraine, thanks to whom such wonderful concerts can take place!