Music From Other Minds

Program 731: Contemporary Music from Ukraine

KALW Broadcast Date: March 5, 2023 | Host: Ed Herrmann

Alla Zagaykevych (b. 1966 Khmelnytskyi) has composed music for orchestra, chamber and vocal groups, music for film, and electronic music. Sine the 1990s she has been at the forefront of electroacoustic music in Ukraine, teaching at the National Music Academy and founding the Electroacoustics Music Studio in Kyiv. We’ll hear three pieces by Zagaykevych using recorders, cellos, and electronics. 

Andrey Kiritchenko (b. 1976 Kharkiv) is the founder of Nexsound Records and director of the Nexsound Festival. He has collaborated with musicians around the world in styles ranging from rock to free improvisation, electroacoustic to experimental. The program features several stylistically diverse pieces by Kiritchenko.

DakhaBrakha plays modern arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs using instruments from many diverse cultures. The quartet tours internationally, staging theatrical performances and displaying their “Stop Putin” banner.

Grammy nominated soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom has played and recorded with numerous iconic jazz artists. Picturing the Invisible: Focus 1  comprises eight sparse compositions inspired by the black and white science photography of Berenice Abbott. It was recorded during the pandemic, as a series of remote duets with percussionist Allison Miller, bass player Mark Helias, and Miya Masaoka playing koto.

Dutch pianist Wolfert Brederode composed Ruins and Remains in 2018 for a commission to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. Scored for piano, string quartet, and percussion, the mood is vulnerable but resilient, bleak but hopeful.

Program Audio

30-Second Spot