Anima Mundi presented two events last weekend dedicated to the Ukrainian people and spotlighting stirring new works

By Lucie K. Scheuer for Ashland.news

Anima Mundi Productions, a sublime music and performance-art gift to Ashland since its inception in 2014, just wrapped up another year of invigorating new works by visiting artists and composers, including resident composer Ethan Gans-Morse, evocative and expressive poetry by Tiziana DellaRovere and performances focused on raising awareness of populations that are currently in crisis.

The final weekend in October was dedicated to the people of Ukraine. Although the seeds of inspiration for the weekend performances were rooted in grief, what has grown out of this remarkable assemblage of music and free verse, are works that highlight the struggle and anguish Ukrainians are experiencing, along with their determination to survive.

On Oct. 25, a cultural fair was held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Wonderful Ukrainian baked goods (rolls, cakes, cookies) and borscht were served. Colorful Ukrainian dresses with intricate needlework were on display and handmade items were for sale. The evening’s activities were sponsored by Uniting for Ukraine, Rogue Valley (now serving over 29 families here from Ukraine), the sister city Ashland-Sviatohirsk Aid Project and Anima Mundi Productions. A short preview concert that Friday night offered a glimpse of the phenomenal piano recital featuring Grammy-winning pianist Nadia Shpachenko that was to come Oct. 27 at the SOU Music Recital Hall.

On Oct. 25, local pianist Iryna Kudielina told the story of her long journey to the U.S. from Ukraine a decade ago. She eventually settled under the tutelage of Alexander Tutunov, virtuoso pianist and professor in SOU’s School of Music. Kudielina said she hasn’t seen her family in three years because of Ukraine’s war with against the invading forces of Russia. She then played a series of solo, classical pieces including an Ukrainian-inspired tune reminiscent of her home.

The Sunday concert, “Unbreakable Spirit: Music of Resilience,” featuring Shpachenko, was nothing short of astounding. For two hours, Shpachenko led the audience through a labyrinth of tonal and atonal pieces stirring feelings from fear to anger, from sorrow to hope — several inspired by or actually composed by Frédéric Chopin.

It is easy to understand why Ukrainian composers are drawn to Chopin. His works, more than contemporaries of his time, are deeply personal, as if his inner world escaped through his fingers and on to the keys. His music is sad and reflective, as are the Ukrainians in this dark time.

Chopin’s Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, Opus 35, No. 2 opens with a frenetic rush of notes and relaxes into a restless melody. By the third movement we are pulled into his funeral march, which was accompanied by a short film showing Ukrainian families walking through the streets in a funeral procession. We are reminded of the parade of lost souls and the destruction that never seems to end. The Finale: Presto concludes with a cascade of notes skillfully and masterfully rendered by Shpachenko.

There were some world-premiere pieces, the first by Ludmila Yurina, “Cuando la sirena se calma” completed less than three weeks ago. It is a fascinating piece, with notes strategically arranged as if they were falling like bombs. There’s a crescendo and then a lessening of sound settling into an uneasy calm. Shpachenko provided the forcefulness the piece requires, suddenly leaping from the piano bench with what looked like a padded percussion mallet and pounding the piano strings. It was startling, theatrical and very effective. We feel the bombs come crashing through people’s lives, shattering any semblance of inner peace they may have had.

The second world-premiere, by Ethan Gans-Morse and titled “Bomb Shelter Variations,” is based on a short video of violinist Vira Lytovchenko playing a moving Ukrainian song in a bomb shelter. It captures the rage and terror felt in moments of desperation, through theme and variation. The piece resolves in phrasing that connotes unsure resignation.

Gans-Morse describes the piece this way. “The five variations take us into that cellar, into the cold, dark, depths as the bombs fall; we then hear a response to Vira Lytovchenko’s song, echoing around the world as represented by fugal counterpoint.” Gans-Morse’s compositions are injected with pathos, short musical breaths, pauses that come alive with intense musical phrasing and incredible depth. The music shivers and cowers. In this piece it is almost as though returning to its theme, the music is trying to make sense out of an incomprehensible situation.

The program also featured a piece by Ukrainian composer Zoltan Almashi titled “Arfaria,” which felt somber and serene. His music is incredibly touching and again suggestive of the grief one might feel after great loss The only piece that seemed out of place and made the program a bit too long was Chesterfield Gorge Rag by Lewis Spratlan, who recently passed away. The piece is a perfect vehicle for showcasing Shpachenko’s mastery of the keyboard but added more intensity to a program that was already emotionally demanding.

Visual, ethnic, primitive, symbolic artworks, with images that are rendered in primary colors were offered on slides above the audience by Ukrainian artists Lesia Babliak, Kati Prusenko, Olena Papka and Yuriy Nagulko.

How do you give a voice to the unspeakable grief and sadness that has torn the people of Ukraine apart? Maybe you start with a poem by Tiziana DellaRovere, who read her “Litany for Peace.”

“In times like ours” she says, “We fall on our knees and lift our hands to you, the great mystery that enfolds us all.” The auditorium fell silent. Her second poem, “A Promise,” was just as moving. She describes war as a ritual, enacted throughout the ages, a “blood ceremony of occurrence and reoccurrence” eventually collapsing under its own weight. “But it will end,” she promises, “It always ends when the heart breaks/over and over and over again/Until the clouds part.”

The concert concluded with “Melody” by Myroslav Skoryk. It is a piece that longs for reunion and was most fitting for this solemn occasion. Violins replaced by Shpachenko’s gentle piano strokes expressively build to a crescendo, bringing all to tears. It is a piece so gentle, so achingly beautiful and simple, filled with melancholy and longing, it was the perfect way to end a nearly perfect concert. 

Lucie K. Scheuer is director and coordinator for two nonprofits in the Rogue Valley: Heart Rising and Uniting for Ukraine RV, to aid Almeda Fire and emigrating Ukrainian refugees. She is also a nonprofit development consultant, journalist and credentialed substance abuse/dual-diagnosis counselor.

Nov. 3: Corrected spelling of Nadia Shpachenko, Lesia Babliak and Lewis Spratlan’s names.