Celebrating Fedir Yakymenko: A 150 Year Legacy
November 20, 2026 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
MUSIC AT THE INSTITUTE
Celebrating Fedir Yakymenko: A 150 Year Legacy
Friday, November 20th, 2026 | 7:00 PM
Music at the Institute (MATI) presents a concert celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Fedir Yakymenko (1876–1945), a distinguished Ukrainian composer, pianist, and educator whose remarkable musical legacy was nearly lost to history. In recognition of his contributions to Ukrainian culture, Ukraine has designated 2026 as the Year of Fedir Yakymenko.
The MATI program is a ticketed event and advance registration is requested. A reception will follow the concert.
TICKETS
$40 General Admission
$35 UIA Annual Friends, Seniors, and Students
$30 UIA Members
PROGRAM
Fedir Yakymenko (1876–1945)
Sonata No. 1 in D minor for violin and piano, Op. 32
Sonata No. 2 in G major for violin and piano, Op. 38b
String Trio in C minor, Op. 7
PERFORMED BY
Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin
Lara St John, violin
Christine Grossman, viola
Laura Metcalf, cello
Pavlo Gintov, piano
Melvin Chen, piano
This concert brings together six distinguished musicians to celebrate Yakymenko’s chamber music and restore his voice to the concert stage. It also continues MATI’s commitment to rediscovering, performing, and recording lesser-known masterpieces of Ukrainian classical music.
In 2024, MATI presented the North American premiere of Yakymenko’s String Trio, introducing audiences to this remarkable and rarely heard work. As part of MATI’s ongoing recording initiative, violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv and pianist Melvin Chen recorded Yakymenko’s Violin Sonata No. 2 and Three Pieces for Violin and Piano, contributing to the preservation and wider recognition of his chamber repertoire.
About the Composer
Fedir Yakymenko was born in the village of Pisky near Kharkiv, Ukraine, and demonstrated exceptional musical talent from an early age. He became a highly respected composer, pianist, and educator, contributing significantly to musical life in Ukraine and beyond.
Following the Bolshevik Revolution, Yakymenko fled Soviet rule, eventually settling in Paris. His music was suppressed in the Soviet Union, and his achievements gradually disappeared from public memory. Despite his distinguished career, Yakymenko spent his final years in severe poverty, without adequate financial support. Weakened by hunger and illness, he died in Paris in 1945.
Decades later, Ukrainian conductor Kyrylo Karabits rediscovered Yakymenko’s forgotten scores while exploring music collections in a Paris library, helping spark renewed international interest in the composer’s extraordinary legacy. The composer’s music, blending late Romantic lyricism, French Impressionism, and a deeply poetic sensibility, is gradually reclaiming its rightful place in the classical repertoire.
About Music at the Institute (MATI)
In its 38th season, MATI presents world-class musicians from Ukraine, Europe and the US, performing in the unique setting of the Concert Hall in the Ukrainian Institute of America’s historic, landmark building. Currently under the leadership of Artistic Director Solomiya Ivakhiv, the MATI series presents audiences with a selection of familiar chamber music repertoire and introduces lesser-known as well as established works by Ukrainian composers. Over its history, MATI has commissioned compositions by emerging and recognized Ukrainian composers, in celebration or commemoration of milestones in Ukrainian and the Institute’s history.