Opera diva Yevhenia Miroshnychenko’s concert gown and shoes, a key from maestro Petro Tchaikovsky’s grand piano, Illia Slatin’s conductor’s baton, personal belongings of the outstanding Ukrainian composer Yakiv Stepovy – all these and many other out of 600 items, which seemed dissimilar, became the core of the exhibit “Charms of music life of Kharkiv region,” which is perceived as the ground for creation of a music culture museum in the first capital of Ukraine. Its founder and organizer is a well-known Kharkiv music critic, historian of music culture, Yurii Shcherbinin. The premises for the public gallery “Charms of music life of Kharkiv region” were provided by the Kharkiv-based Kozhedub University of Air Forces.
Shcherbinin started to collect the items for the future museum back in the time when he was a student of the Leningrad Conservatoire. He has lived with this dream for almost 50 years of his life. He collected the tiny bits of information about the outstanding musicians who came to Kharkiv and enriched its aura. A professional photographer, Shcherbini made photos of Ivan Kozlovsky, Sviatoslav Richter, Dmitry Shostakovich, Tikhon Khrennikov, and his fellow musicians: these photos now adorn the exposition of the museum.
