Ukrainian Pianist to Perform Benefit Concert

COMMUNITY NEWS

Ukrainian Pianist to Perform Benefit Concert

Local residents have the opportunity to hear Ukrainian pianist Stanislav Khristenko perform in a benefit concert for Ukraine 4 p.m. Sunday, June 26 at Peace United Church of Christ, 900 High St., Santa Cruz.

The program: Frederic Chopin: Four Ballades and works by Ukrainian composers Boris Lyatoshinsky and Valentin Silverstrov.

Presenters are the Distinguished Artists Series, Peace United Church and Novo Ukraine, a nonprofit providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine, serving meals, delivering medicine and medical equipment and evacuating refugees.

Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Khristenko gave his first piano solo recital in Kharkiv Philharmonic Hall at age 11 – and he has since captivated audiences on four continents.

He studied with Vera Gornostaeva in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and with Sergei Babayan in the Cleveland Institute of Music.

He has been called a “poet of piano” with his emotional intensity.

As a concert pianist, Khristenko received prizes at 30+ international piano competitions including Cleveland International Piano Competition, Maria Canals International Piano Competition and Queen Elisabeth International Music Competition.

He has appeared as a piano soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra, Phoenix, Puerto Rico and Richmond Symphonies, National Orchestra of Belgium, Bilbao, Madrid and Tenerife Symphony Orchestras, Liege Royal Philharmonic, and Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra. His performance highlights include solo recitals at Carnegie Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, and Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels.

He is a Steinway artist.

He moved to the United States in 2008; most of his family still resides in Kharkiv. He is a co-founder of KharkivMusicFest as well as music director of Nova Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra in Kharkiv. In 2020 he founded Rethink Classical, digital initiative for classical music and arts as well as Rethink Piano Academy, a mentoring initiative for young pianists.

In just four years, KharkivMusicFest presented performances of the world’s top musicians as well as outreach concerts, painted pianos on streets, Festival Orchestra, a classical music forum, and Children’s Orchestra.

The event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and most of its program was presented in the spring 2021. This year’s event, planned for the end of March, replaced due to the attack by Russia with one concert in the subway shelter by only five musicians that stayed in Kharkiv. This year KharkivMusicFest was featured by Washington Post and ABC News, among others.

With the Nova Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra, Stanislav conducted works of 40 composers in its first three seasons. In 2018-2019, Nova Sinfonietta ArtConnect project brought together musicians from Odesa, Lviv, and Kyiv chamber orchestras for alongside performances.

Nova Sinfoneittta orchestra musicians started a Children’s Orchestra initiative but activities were interrupted by the pandemic in 2020.

At this moment, most of the musicians have left Kharkiv to find shelter all over Europe. n

Tickets are $100 at: www.distinguished artists.org.

Stanislav Khristenko

“Julia Child” from page 4

“Uh, Oh!” I told Gayle, “I have to call her. And now.” When you hear from Julia, you pick up the phone and dial.

Once I got Julia on the phone, I told her I was in Scotland and she said, “Are you fishing for salmon?”

I had to chuckle. When a foodie responds to an arbitrary comment about any subject under the sun, they often bring the conversation back to food!

Having been selected for Julia’s PBS TV show, Baking with Julia months before, I had originally committed to demonstrating bread sculpture, or pain fantasie. But Julia, in her endearing bulldog determination, must have decided she wanted more drama. She asked me to demonstrate sourdough instead. At first, I panicked. But let me say right here, when Julia wants you to take a detour, you simply agree–no questions asked. You do it wholeheartedly because she’s Julia. And she’s so darn nice.

People always ask, “What was she like?” Well, I’ve never met a more sincere person. I often tell people, “She makes you feel like you’re the most important person on earth.” Always willing to find out who you are and what makes you tick. And if what makes you tick happens to be food, it places you squarely on her “team.”

Stored Overhead

Once on the plane, ready to take off, the starters were safe and secure in the overhead. Because the show’s producers tell you to bring three of everything in case there’s a mishap, I carefully prepared three little jars and secured them in a small portable cooler.

The moment we were airborne, my anticipation of the announcement to be made upon landing–“please be careful when opening the overhead compartment because the contents may have shifted during the flight”–took on an entirely different meaning.

But none of my worst fears came true. I must have checked the jars in the overhead a half dozen times, pretending I was looking for a pencil. So, my three precious starters arrived intact.

Settling Down

Once I got to Cambridge, the anguish subsided. The starters began to behave predictably after giving them a feeding in my hotel room sink. Like finicky kids on a difficult flight, they settled down to normal after they’d been given a little nourishment and kindness.

I even felt safe when, the day before the shoot, I was relegated to the basement for prep. Down there I felt secure among Paul’s equipment and his nerdy penchant for outlining with a black sharpie exactly where each tool should be hung on a peg board. And I missed a party that night while coaxing my mixtures to maturity.

Having been selected for Julia’s PBS TV show, Baking with Julia months before, I had originally committed to demonstrating bread sculpture, or pain fantasie. But Julia, in her endearing bulldog determination, must have decided she wanted more drama.

But I didn’t care. Feeling confident in my preparation far outweighed any desire I may have had to enjoy a dinner party.

And the next day’s shoot went according to plan.

The most amazing revelation of the entire experience, though, wasn’t the perfectly professional execution of the production or that Julia deserved her fame because of her graciously allowing younger cooks and bakers to showcase their talents, but at that moment during the shoot when her assistant walked by to say that her book, Mastering the Art had just gone into its 97th printing. Yes, 97th!

It couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.

And, by the way, the bread turned out wonderfully on the first try. And Julia—tall as she is amenable—didn’t even have to stoop down to grab me around my neck, cradle my head in the crook of her arm, and offer me an affectionate noogie on the scalp as my just reward. n •••

Joe Ortiz, author of “The Village Baker,” wrote and produced a musical inspired by bread and created a musical based on his family story, Escaping Queens, that was a hit at Cabrillo Stage. He and his wife Gayle received the 2016 Gail Rich Award for contributions to the arts in Santa Cruz County. Contact him at joe@gocapitola.com