Music In The Alps Presents Two Ukraine Benefit Concerts Organized By Dr. Irena Portenko

Music in the Alps presents two Ukraine benefit concerts organized by American-Ukrainian pianist and educator Dr. Irena Portenko to raise funds for Ukrainian citizens fighting for their families, their country, and their lives.

First up is A Show of Caring: A Concert to Benefit Ukraine at Tarrytown Music Hall on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 8pm. This concert features international music performed by distinguished contributors from many genres: Dr. Irena Portenko on piano, Metropolitan Opera bass Stefan Szkafarowsky, the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York (recently seen on Saturday Night Live), countertenor Jeffrey Palmer, and pianist Svetlana Gorokhovich in this special all-volunteer event. All proceeds after ticket fees will be donated to charities supporting Ukrainian rescue efforts.

On Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 8pm at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, this concert features Dr. Irena Portenko performing Beethoven's final piano sonatas, Opuses 109, 110 and 111, chosen to make the audience feel his resilience while writing them, being completely deaf. Through grief and helplessness, having her family in Kyiv, she finds her own resilience. By uniting her artistry with efforts made by Razom for Ukraine and United Help Ukraine, she sends her energy and love to her birth country, raising funds to aid Ukrainians throughout this horrific war. Dr. Portenko will be joined by special guest artist, Ukrainian flutist

Denis Savelyev, performing two pieces by the late Ukrainian contemporary composer, Myroslav Skoryk, titled Spanish Dance and Melody. The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York, will perform Prayer for Ukraine and the Anthem for both concerts, including some a capella works by Ukrainian composers. All proceeds after ticket fees will be donated to charities supporting Ukrainian rescue efforts.

Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 8pm
Tarrytown Music Hall
13 Main Street, Tarrytown, NY
Tickets: $30-$75
https://bit.ly/IrenaTMH

Tuesday, March 29, 2022 at 8pm
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
57th St. & 7th Ave., New York, NY
CarnegieCharge: 212-247-7800
Tickets: $65-85
https://bit.ly/IrenaCH

"Once A. Schopenhauer asked L. van Beethoven, why his last Piano Sonata had only two movements. Beethoven's answer was: "I need to rush, I am about to write my great symphony." And that was Symphony number nine.

What kept Beethoven going despite his deafness and inability to perform? The answers are in his music, written in his later years, quartets, symphonies, and sonatas. As a pianist, he expanded the role of a piano beyond imaginable; as a musician and philosopher, he reached beyond infinite.

Irena Portenko's performance of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas is an unusual journey. For the performer, all three Sonatas are like one trip to the new heights and depths at the same time. Poignant melodies, unusual harmonic solutions, persisted rhythms, that feel like knocking and juxtaposing distant sounds, place this music on a different perspective level. Intuitive, rather than analytical, with a complex language, it strikes with its innocence and inner beauty, accessibility, and generosity of the emotional world. Irena performs Sonatas without a break, especially enjoying tonal connections between the Sonatas themselves as well as between all movements and their images.

While asking her students, whether they like Beethoven, Irena specifically points at one of the qualities that helped Beethoven pursue his compositional dreams, despite his health condition. If Beethoven had said: "I can't hear, therefore I can't write," we wouldn't have heard powerful Ode to Joy in the very Finale of the 9th Symphony, his other pieces, including his last Piano Sonatas. "What do you think," continues Irena, "maybe, instead of saying "I can't," you should always say "I'll try," and maybe with your resilience, this something very special, created by you will be a discovery for mankind and will make this world a better place?"

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