Pioneer Valley Symphony Responds to Ukraine Crisis;
adds de Hartmann's Symphonie-Poème
Music & discussion to add context to complicated cultural relationship between Ukraine and Russia
March 10, 2022
(Greenfield, Mass.) — In response to the current conflict in Ukraine, The Pioneer Valley Symphony (PVS) will add the prelude and postlude of Thomas de Hartmann's third Symphonie-Poème to its concert on March 19 at 7:00 PM at Tillis Performance Hall at the Bromery Center for the Arts in Amherst, MA. The program also includes the world premiere of Andrés Martín’s Vox Concerto for cello and Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1919).
“We feel we have an opportunity and an obligation to use music to express a message of peace, and show solidarity with the people of Ukraine in a powerful way,” said PVS Music Director Tianhui Ng.
Ng has previously been involved in a recording project in Lviv, Ukraine to promote the works of de Hartmann, mostly recently referred to by the Ukrainian press as a “forgotten Ukrainian master.” Stravinsky and de Hartmann were contemporaries, with deep connections to both Ukraine and Russia. Stravinsky was born in Russia to a Ukrainian mother, and spent time in Kyiv as a child; de Hartmann was born in Ukraine to a family of Russian nobles.
PVS is also partnering with members of the Ukrainian-American community, including the leadership of the Bethesda Ukrainian Church in West Springfield, to use the upcoming concert to raise awareness and funds. They will jointly hold a special pop-up event after the concert in the lobby of the Bromery Center for the Arts where concertgoers will be treated to Ukrainian vocal music and can donate to ProjectHOPE, a humanitarian organization providing essential on-the-ground support to health care networks caring for refugees.
There will be a pre-concert talk at 6:00 PM with Martín and resident musicologist David Schneider, Georges Lurcy Professor of Music and European Studies at Amherst College.
Below is a schedule of the remainder of the PVS’s 83rd season, “A Season of Rebirth.” For tickets and more information, visit www.pvsoc.orgor call the box office at 413.773.3664.
Family Concert
Streaming online April 18 - 29
Elena Ruehr’s Unquiet Earth *World Premiere*
Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem
Greenfield High School, Greenfield, MA
Saturday, May 7 at 7PM
About: The Pioneer Valley Symphony, one of the oldest community orchestras in the nation, has been bringing exceptional live symphonic and choral music to the Pioneer Valley for more than 80 years. Founded in Greenfield in 1939, the PVS ensembles perform high-quality symphonic and choral music primarily in Franklin and Hampshire Counties of Massachusetts, drawing its volunteer musicians and eager audiences from across the Pioneer Valley and beyond.