Music at the Institute: Legacies / Remembering Ted Dzus Jr.

Music at the Institute presents Legacies on Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 4 PM.

Join us for an evening of music as we remember Ted Dzus Jr., grandson of the founder of the Ukrainian Institute of America and legacy in his own right. Ted’s natural zest for life and connection to his Ukrainian heritage inspired the program selections for the concert. Ted was a passionate advocate for Ukrainian causes and, with his beloved wife, Carol, was an enthusiastic supporter of our Music at the Institute series. We proudly pay tribute to Ted and his family. 

Program

Jaime Mirtenbaum Zenamon Reflexões No. 6: III. Vivissimo
Radamés Gnattali Allegretto Comodo
Caroline Shaw Shenandoah
Gabriel Fauré Pavane (arr. Boyd Meets Girl)
Marián Budoš A New York Minute
Maurice Ravel Sonata for Violin and Cello, M. 73
Myroslav Skoryk Hutsul Triptych (arr. for Violin & Piano)
Astor Piazzolla Nightclub 1960 (arr. C. Assad)
Paul Schoenfield Café Music for Piano Trio

Tickets:

$35 General Admission
$25 UIA Friends, Students, Seniors
$15 UIA Members

THE PERFORMERS

Laura Metcalf, cello
Renowned for her passionate artistry and “brilliant” playing (Gramophone), Laura Metcalf has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across six continents, with appearances in South Africa, Nepal, Argentina, Qatar, Japan, Australia, and beyond. Her debut solo album on Sono Luminus reached #7 on the Billboard Charts and was praised by AllMusic as “a way forward for classical music.”

As a chamber musician, Laura is drawn to boundary-pushing collaborations. She tours internationally with her husband, guitarist Rupert Boyd, in their duo Boyd Meets Girl, which has reached #3 on the Billboard Charts and amassed over 3 million Spotify streams. The duo premiered a double concerto by Clarice Assad in 2024. Laura also performs with the genre-defying cello-percussion quartet Break of Reality, selected by the U.S. State Department for a global tour.

A founding member of The Overlook Quartet, dedicated to creating a more inclusive musical canon, Laura has performed with leading ensembles such as Eighth Blackbird, The Knights, and ETHEL. She was previously the cellist of Sybarite5, the first string quintet to win the Concert Artists Guild competition, touring globally and reaching #1 on Billboard’s Classical Chart.

Laura is also an artistic director and curator, co-founding GatherNYC and the Unfiltered Music Festival at Fotografiska New York, and curating for institutions including the Museum of Arts and Design. She has performed with artists such as Adele, Nas, and John Legend, and regularly teaches masterclasses at institutions including Curtis, Juilliard, and New England Conservatory. She is on the faculty at Riverdale Country School.

Rupert Boyd, guitar
Described by The Washington Post as “truly evocative” and “a young Australian [who] may not have the likes of him again,” Rupert Boyd is recognized as one of his generation’s finest classical guitarists. He has performed on four continents, from Carnegie Hall to festivals in Europe, China, India, and Australia.

Recent highlights include appearances at the Moab and Newport Music Festivals, Caramoor, Festival Napa Valley, and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was named New Artist of the Month by Musical America for his work as both performer and curator.

Rupert tours extensively as a soloist and in the duo Boyd Meets Girl with cellist Laura Metcalf. Their debut album reached #3 on the Billboard Charts and has over 4 million Spotify streams. Gramophone praised their second album, Songs of Love & Despair, as “beguiling… fascinating… enchanting.” In 2024, they premiered ANAHATA, a double concerto by Clarice Assad, with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra.

He also performs in the Australian Guitar Duo with Jacob Cordover; their debut album Songs from the Forest was described as “wonderfully entertaining” (Classical Guitar Magazine).

Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin
Ukrainian-born violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv is an acclaimed soloist and chamber musician who has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Curtis Institute, Tchaikovsky Hall in Kyiv, and CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio. She has appeared with major orchestras including the Istanbul State Symphony, Charleston Symphony, National Symphony of Ukraine, and Hunan Symphony in China.

A champion of new music, she has premiered works by composers such as David Ludwig, Bohdan Kryvopust, and Yevhan Stankovych, and has been featured at festivals including Tanglewood, Ottawa Chamberfest, Prussia Cove, and Newport.

Her recordings—including Ukraine: Journey to Freedom (NAXOS), Mendelssohn Concertos (Brilliant Classics), and Poems and Rhapsodies (Centaur)—have topped classical charts and received international acclaim.

Dr. Ivakhiv is Head of Strings and Professor of Violin and Viola at the University of Connecticut and teaches at the Longy School of Music of Bard College. She is Artistic Director of the Music at the Institute (MATI) series in New York and was recently named a Merited Artist of Ukraine, the country’s highest cultural honor.
www.solomiyaivakhiv.com

Steven Beck, piano
This season pianist Steven Beck appears with the orchestras of Austin, Princeton, and Chattanooga, can be heard in chamber music in Chicago and Oklahoma City, and repeats his annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic, which has become a New York institution.

As a soloist Mr. Beck has performed with the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony and has appeared at Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Library of Congress; summer concerts have been at the Aspen Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, and Lincoln Center Out of Doors. As an orchestral musician he has played with the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, and Orpheus.

An experienced performer of new music, Steven Beck has premiered works by Charles Wuorinen and Fred Lerdahl. He can be heard on over 40 CDs, including the first complete recording of George Walker’s piano sonatas, for Bridge Records. Mr. Beck is a member of the Knights, the Talea Ensemble, Quattro Mani, and the Da Capo Chamber Players. He is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. A Steinway Artist, he is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where he now teaches orchestral piano.