Dvořák Symphony No. 8

[118 words]

Celebrated Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv leads Dvořák’s lively Symphony No. 8, inspired by the Bohemian countryside and rousing Czech dances. The spotlight shines on the 2022 Honens Piano Competition Laureate, and Lyniv’s Ukrainian compatriot, Illia Ovcharenko, who performs Liszt’s sparkling First Piano Concerto, with its intricate piano-and-orchestra dialogue, lyrical passages, and romantic bravura. The Canadian Première of composer Zoltan Almashi’s Maria’s City, dedicated to the city of Mariupol, rounds out a program paying tribute to the unwavering spirit of the Ukrainian people.

There's a special free pre-concert performance by The Ukrainian Art Song Project as part of the TSO Chamber Soloists series prior to the Thursday, November 16 performance. See the TSO Chamber Soloists page for more information.

Program

Oksana Lyniv, conductor

Oksana Lyniv was born in Brody, Ukraine. In 2004, she won the third prize at the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Bamberg, Germany. From 2008 to 2013, she was Deputy Music Director at the Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Ukraine, and in the 2013/14 season, she became the assistant to the Bavarian State Opera’s Music Director Kirill Petrenko in Munich. In 2017, she gave an acclaimed début at Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, conducting a new production of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. 

From September 2017 to August 2020, Lyniv was Music Director of Oper Graz, Austria. In August 2021, she was the first woman ever to conduct at the Bayreuth Festival, again leading The Flying Dutchman, which was a triumphant success. Since then, she has returned every summer. Since January 2022, she has been Music Director of the prestigious Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy. Recent and future commitments include opera productions at Staatsoper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Oper Frankfurt, Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, among many others, and in February 2024, she will make her début at The Met with Puccini’s Turandot. 

Lyniv is also conducting symphonic concerts with orchestras such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the London Philharmonic, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande in Geneva, the Vienna Symphony, the Bruckner Orchester Linz, and, of course, her own orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Bologna. She also founded and has been the Artistic Director of the Young Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, which has performed at many European venues such as Young Euro Classic in Berlin and the Lucerne Festival, among others.

Illia Ovcharenko, piano

Praised as “technically flawless and impeccably musical” (International Piano), and winner of the lauded 2022 Honens International Piano Competition, 21-year-old Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko has taken the piano world by storm. Ovcharenko embodies Honens’s ideal with his technical mastery, his perseverance against adversity, and an understanding of musical text that is intellectual and emotional. Highlights of the 2022/23 season include two Carnegie Hall performances and an international tour spanning Brussels, Paris, Liechtenstein, Portugal, Germany, and Canada.

Ovcharenko is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover following his studies at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv under the tutelage of Arie Vardi. He has performed with leading orchestras including the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Pomeranian Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, Ukrainian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Versailles Conservatory String Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. He has also collaborated with prestigious conductors such as Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Arie Vardi, Ian Hobson, Mykola Diadyura, Kai Bumann, Benoit Girault, Volodymyr Sirenko, Nicolò Giuliani, Jeffrey Kahane, and Vitaly Protasov. 

Prior to winning the Honens Competition, Ovcharenko won the New York International Piano Competition in 2022, received Second Prize at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in 2022, became Laureate of the Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy in 2021, won the Michelangeli Prize at the Piano Academy Eppan in Italy, and claimed First Prize at the International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Ukraine in 2019.

Ovcharenko is a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship of Ukraine.

Images and Video

Oksana Lyniv (photo by Oleh Pavliuchenkov)Oksana Lyniv (photo by Oleksandr Samoilov)Oksana Lyniv (photo by Oleh Pavliuchenkov)

Illia Ovcharenko (photo by Ewan Nicholson)Illia Ovcharenko (photo by Ewan Nicholson)Illia Ovcharenko (photo by Vere Music Fund)