Events

This event will be held in English.

This series is co-sponsored by Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, the 1991 Project, the Ukrainian Embassy, and Les Amis de la culture ukrainienne en France.

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The Reid Hall Caféothèque will be open before and after the event with wine and snacks for sale.

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The 1991 Project presents musical duo Antonina Krysa, violin, and Olga Vardanyan, piano, for a concert of Western European and Ukrainian baroque and classical music.

Program (1h)

• Johann Sebastian Bach, Sonata for violin and keyboard No. 4 in C minor BWV 1017, 1717-23
• Dmytro Bortniansky, Sonata for harpsichord in B major, 1784 
• Maksym Berezovsky, Sonata for violin and harpsichord in C major, 1772
• Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663 – 1745), Chaconne in G minor 
• Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), Gavotte 

Antonina Yusha-Krysa studied violin at the Oster Music School. She continued her studies in Kyiv, at the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum, named after MV Lysenko. There, she studied with Alexander Panov. In 1996, she entered the Academy of Music in Kyiv, where she studied under the supervision of Ukrainian violinist Olga Rivnyak. In 1999, she integrated the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, which is known for performing traditional classic repertoire as well as contemporary works, and where she still plays. She has been on many tours, nationally and internationally (Europe, Japan, South-Korean). Upon moving to France from Ukraine in May 2022, she began working at Orchestre National de France.

Olga Vardanyan is a Ukrainian pianist with Armenian roots. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras such as the Kyiv Classic Orchestra, National Kyiv Camerata Orchestra, and the Chernivtsi Symphony Orchestra (CSO). She is a regular participant in concerts and festivals across Ukraine, Armenia, Switzerland, and France. Her performances have graced prestigious venues including the National Opera of Ukraine, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the National House of Music in Kyiv, the House of Chamber Music in Yerevan, and the Centre culture l d'Ukraine en France in Paris. Since the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, she has been a consistent participant in charity concerts aimed at raising funds for war victims and promoting Ukrainian music. In 2021, Olga Vardanyan attained a PhD of Study of Art degree, successfully defending her dissertation on the subject of genre and style in Aram Khachaturian's concert works.

Organizers

The 1991 Project is the 2023/24 project-in-residence of the Reid Hall Displaced Artist Initiatives.

The 1991 Project is a non-profit association whose purpose is to safeguard and promote Ukrainian music, by helping Ukrainian musicians preserve their artistic skills in France and in the Western world. It is led and inspired by Anna Stavychenko, a musicologist, music critic and classical music producer. The production of concerts, cultural, and educational events gives visibility to the Ukrainian musical repertoire, in its tight connections to European cultural traditions.

The initial programs of the project target the most urgent needs of Ukrainian musicians, exiled in France with their families, by providing income, psychological support, and social assistance. These musicians are some of the best performers and they come from the best orchestras in Ukraine, such as the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the National ensemble of soloists "Kyivska kamerata," or the Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra.

The first major event presented by the 1991 Project was the Silvestrov Days in Paris in May and June 2023, co-organized with Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, the Ukrainian Culture Center in Paris, and the Embassy of Ukraine in France. The festival was dedicated to one of the greatest Ukrainian contemporary composers, Valentyn Silvestrov.

The 1991 Project is currently preparing the 2023/2024 season, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Embassy in France, Columbia Global Centers | Paris, Reid Hall, UNICEF, the University Paris 8.

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Columbia Global Centers | Paris addresses pressing global issues that are at the forefront of international education and research: agency and gender; climate and the environment; critical dialogues for just societies; encounters in the arts; and health and medical science.

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Each year the Institute for Ideas and Imagination brings together a cohort of 14-15 Fellows, half of them Columbia faculty and post-docs, the other half artists and writers from around the world, to spend a year together in work and conversation. The Institute fosters intellectual and creative diversity unconstrained by medium and discipline through the interaction of the arts and academia.

Venue

Nestled in the Montparnasse district, Reid Hall hosts several Columbia University initiatives: Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, Columbia Undergraduate Programs, M.A. in History and Literature, and the GSAPP Shape of Two Cities Program. This unique combination of resources is enhanced by our global network whose mission is to expand the University's engagement the world over through educational programs, research initiatives, regional partnerships, and public events.

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s the Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

The views and opinions expressed by speakers and guests do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of Columbia Global Centers | Paris or its affiliates.