Music at the Institute

MUSIC AT THE INSTITUTE 
Enduring Voices: Rzewski and Sylvestrov
Monday, May 11, 2026 | 7:00 PM

Music at the Institute (MATI) presents an evening of music featuring Van Cliburn Gold Medalist Vadym Kholodenko and Fritz Kreisler Milka Award recipient violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv in a program of works by Frederic Rzewski and Valentyn Sylvestrov. Before the concert, musicologist Peter J. Schmelz, a specialist in 20th- and 21st-century Soviet-era music, will deliver a talk titled, “The People United Will Never Be Defeated: Reflections on politics and nation from Rzewski to Sylvestrov.”

The MATI program is a ticketed event and advance registration is requested.

General Admission: $40
UIA Friends, Students, Seniors: $30
UIA Members: $20

PROGRAM

Valentyn Sylvestrov “Post Scriptum” Sonata for Violin and Piano (1990)
Frederic Rzewski The People United Will Never Be Defeated! (1975)

PERFORMED BY

Solomiya Ivakhiv, violin
Vadym Kholodenko, piano

ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS

Solomiya Ivakhiv, Professor of Violin and Viola and Head of Strings at the University of Connecticut, and Professor of Violin at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, was named a Merited Artist of Ukraine (2021). She is Artistic Director of Music at the Institute (MATI) in New York and the Caspian Music Festival in Vermont. Her recordings for NAXOS, Brilliant Classics, and Centaur feature both Ukrainian composers and major classical repertoire, and she is a dedicated champion of new music with numerous world premieres to her credit.

Vadym Kholodenko, Gold Medalist of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, is internationally recognized for his technical brilliance, expansive repertoire, and deeply poetic interpretations. He has performed with leading orchestras and at major concert halls across North America, Europe, and Asia, and has held artist residencies with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and the SWR Symphonie Orchester. A sought-after recitalist and chamber musician, he appears regularly in the world’s cultural capitals and collaborates with many distinguished artists. His recordings—spanning a wide range of repertoire—have received major international accolades, including BBC Music Magazine awards and the Diapason d’Or. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, he is now based in Luxembourg.

Peter J. Schmelz, Professor and Chair of the Department of Comparative Thought and Literature at Johns Hopkins University (Batimore, USA), specializes in twentieth and twenty-first century musics. His books include Such Freedom, If Only Musical: Unofficial Soviet Music during the Thaw (Oxford, 2009); Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso no. 1 (Oxford, 2019); and Sonic Overload: Alfred Schnittke, Valentin Silvestrov, and Polystylism in the Late USSR (Oxford, 2021). His work has received an ASCAP Deems Taylor Award, two ASCAP Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Awards, and the Otto Kinkeldey Award from the American Musicological Society. He has also received fellowships from the NEH, the American Academy in Berlin, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and the Fulbright Program (Georgia).

ABOUT MUSIC AT THE INSTITUTE (MATI)

In its 37th season, MATI presents world-class musicians from Ukraine, Europe and the US, performing in the intimate setting of the concert hall in the Ukrainian Institute of America’s historic, landmark building. Currently under the leadership of Artistic Director, violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv, the MATI series offers audiences a thoughtfully curated selection introducing both established and lesser-known works by Ukrainian composers alongside beloved chamber music repertoire. Throughout its history, MATI has commissioned new compositions by emerging and recognized Ukrainian composers, celebrating and commemorating significant milestones in Ukrainian history and in the history of the Institute itself. Visit our YouTube Channel for videos of a selection of MATI concerts.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.