Transatlantic connections: How a Ukrainian pianist and a St. John's violinist bonded over music
-
Loading... - Elise Blanchet
- 18 Oct 2022
- 70 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
When Ukrainian pianist Alla Melnychuk performs with violinist Maria Cherwick on Sunday, it will be her first full concert performance in Canada.
The duo met through a Facebook group connecting Ukrainian newcomers with residents of Newfoundland and Labrador. Now they're preparing an evening of classical music for piano and violin from Ukrainian composers.
Cherwick is a staple in the St. John's music community, playing and recording with multiple local bands and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. While her friendship with Melnychuk is quite new, to hear them slip easily into laughter, you'd think they'd been friends for years, rather than mere weeks.
"We have the same feeling in music so it's easy to play together," says Melnychuk. "Before our rehearsal we always have a chat, probably for an hour."
While her first contact with Cherwick was through the Facebook group, Melnychuk says, they met in person at an event that featured the local Ukrainian-Canadian band the Kubasonics, of which Cherwick is a member.
"I went to Maria and said, 'I probably had a chat with you on Facebook.' And after that, we decided to meet for coffee."
"We're not just friends because we both have a Ukrainian connection," says Cherwick, "We talk about music and my cat and everything."
A Ukrainian connection
"Elements of Ukrainian culture and community were really important in our lives growing up," says Cherwick, who grew up in Edmonton. Her cultural connection to Ukraine comes from her great-grandparents, who emigrated from Ukraine in the early 1900s and settled in Saskatchewan.
"With the Soviet Union, there wasn't really a lot of people travelling back and forth for most of the 20th century, and so Ukrainian-Canadian culture kind of evolved in its own way."
The music she plays with her father and brother in the Kubasonics is rooted in her family's Ukrainian heritage. Read More...
