Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s genocidal invasion has inspired the world. Ukrainian culture, including art, literature, design and music, which for centuries has been suppressed and threatened with elimination, isa key element of the fight.
Ukrainian Music Initiative (UMI) is a collaboration of four independent artists - contralto Vira Slywotzky, cellist Valeriya Sholokhova, pianists Margarita Rovenskaya and Pavlo Gintov - each of whom have a longstanding history of commitment to Ukrainian music. They are joined in their mission by musicologist Leah Batstone and business entrepreneur Alex Gamota. UMI’s goal is to elevate Ukrainian classical music to its rightful place in the Western canon and to fill a significant gap in the American cultural landscape, that of skilled and knowledgeable musicians of Ukrainian heritage performing the breadth of Ukrainian classical music.
Pianist PAVLO GINTOV has been described as “a poet of the keyboard” by Marty Lash of the Illinois Entertainer, a “musical storyteller” by the Japanese publication Shikoku News, and “a fantastic pianist and extraordinary artist” by Jerry Dubins of the Fanfare Magazine.
Following his debut at the Kyiv Philharmonic Hall at the age of 12, when he performed Mozart Concerto in D minor K 466 with Kyiv Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Roman Kofman, Mr. Gintov has been touring throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the United States, appearing at such stages as Carnegie Hall in New York, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Teatro Verdi Nationale in Milan, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory and Kioi Hall in Tokyo. He has been a soloist with Tokyo Royal Chamber Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Shizuoka Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, the National Symphony Orchestra of the Dominican Republic and Manhattan Chamber Orchestra under such conductors as Michiyoshi Inoue, Victor Yampolsky, Thomas Sanderling, Volodymyr Sirenko and Tomomi Nishimoto. Mr. Gintov has appeared on WFMT radio station of Chicago, WCLV of Cleveland, WPR of Wisconsin as well as numerous radio and TV stations in Europe, Japan, and Ukraine.
A native of Ukraine, Mr. Gintov won a First Prize in the Premiere Takamatsu International Piano Competition in Japan, where in addition he was awarded four special prizes. An avid chamber music performer, he has worked with such distinguished musicians as violinists Lara St John and Alena Baeva, cellist Yehuda Hanani, tenor Neil Rosenshein, pianist Mykola Suk, woodwind quintet Windscape and many others. He regularly performs together with his sister, violinist Iryna Gintova. Mr. Gintov graduated with honors from the Moscow State Conservatory, where he was a student of Lev Naumov and Daniil Kopylov. He holds a Doctor of Musical Art degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where he studied with Nina Svetlanova.
MARGARITA ROVENSKAYA is a sought-after pianist, captivating audiences in the US and abroad with performances at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Hall, Zimmerli Museum, Ukrainian Museum, Teatro Machiavelli in Sicily, and DiMenna Center. A prizewinner of the WPTA Finland International Competition, Constantine the Great International Competition, American Music Talent Competition, Mary Smart International Concerto Competition, and Chopin Society Malaysia Competition, she regularly appears in recital series nationwide.
Dr. Rovenskaya champions Czech and Ukrainian composers, programming Ukrainian solo and chamber music, and recently performing Dvořák’s complete Poetic Tone Pictures at the Czech Center NYC. An avid chamber musician, she collaborates with acclaimed musicians and has performed at festivals such as the Manchester Music Festival, Savannah Philharmonic’s Larsen Spotlight Series as a Rising Star, and Bay Chamber Music Series. She is especially honored to perform in the annual Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival, which celebrates Ukrainian culture, music, and avant-garde Ukrainian composers.
Born in Ukraine, Margarita Rovenskaya began studying the piano at the age of six in Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Oberlin Conservatory in May 2012, her Masters in Piano Studies at New York University in May 2014, and earned her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Rutgers University in 2022. Her teachers include Efrem Briskin, Peter Takacs, Eteri Andjaparidze, and Vladimir Valjarevic.
Dr. Rovenskaya is currently based in New York City. She has served as Co-Adjunct Faculty at Rutgers University, Adjunct Piano Instructor at New York University, Head of the Piano Department at Newark School of the Arts as well. She is currently Piano Faculty at the Spence School, runs her own private studio, and serves as the President of the Piano Teachers Congress.
Ukrainian-American cellist VALERIYA SHOLOKHOVA is a sought-after soloist and chamber musician based in New York City. She has performed on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, David Geffen Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Metropolitan Museum, and Saturday Night Live. Valeriya has toured extensively across Europe, with performances in Denmark, Austria, Croatia, Poland, the Baltic States, Sweden, Germany, and Ukraine. In 2022, she co-founded Trio Fadolin, an innovative ensemble exploring the unique sonority of the six-string fadolin. The trio has since been awarded Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant and recorded an album of newly commissioned works.
As a soloist, Valeriya has performed the U.S. premiere of Peteris Vasks’ Cello Concerto No. 2 in Boston as well as Camille Pepin’s double concerto, “The Sound of Trees” at the Kennedy Center. She has also championed the works on Ukrainian composers through solo recitals, fundraisers, and her ongoing involvement with the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival. Valeriya is a laureate of several international competitions, including the Liezen International Cello Competition and the Antonio Janigro Competition. She has held principal cello positions at notable festival orchestras such as Spoleto Festival USA, Orchestra of the Americas, the Perlman Music Program, Music Academy of the West, and Thy Music Festival in Denmark. Currently, serves as principal cellist with The New Orchestra of Washington, The Refugee Orchestra Project, The Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, and is on the Lincoln Center Stage roster.
Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Valeriya is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, where she studied under full scholarship with Bonnie Hampton and David Geber. She also pursued studies at the Royal Danish Academy of Music with Professor Morten Zeuthen. In addition to her performing career, Valeriya is dedicated to community outreach, regularly performing through Sing for Hope in public spaces, hospitals, nursing homes, and correctional facilities.
Contralto VIRA SLYWOTZKY has performed principal roles with Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Chelsea Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, Sarasota Opera, Boston Midsummer Opera and the Victor Herbert Renaissance Project LIVE! She has sung concerts, recitals and cabarets in New York City venues from The Duplex to Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and on tour all over the United States. Internationally Slywotzky has been heard in Canada, France, Hungary, Sweden and Wales.
A champion of new music, she has workshopped and premiered more than 30 works including songs, full scale opera and narration with orchestra. Slywotzky has always been committed to keeping Ukrainian song alive and thriving; since February 2022 she has been serving as a cultural ambassador and fundraising for organizations providing aid to Ukraine.
Participant in numerous competitions and winner of awards, most significantly Slywotzky was the sole representative of the USA at the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
She runs Vira & Friends, a mobile musical variety show whose missions are to bring people together to enjoy the live performance of song, develop audiences for classical music and provide a platform for the programming of composers traditionally neglected by the Western canon. Vira & Friends is a nonprofit under the auspices of the Ukrainian American Educational Center of Boston, a 501(c)(3).