An evening of the music of Volodymyr Runchak, a young Ukrainian composer, will be performed on Tuesday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at the Kyiv Philharmonic Hall of Columns by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Runchak himself, as well as by the British violinist Peter Sheppard, the Polish flutist Grzegorz Olkewicz and the renowned Kyiv saxophonist Yuri Vasylevych
Runchak’s music defies two myths about contemporary music: first, that it is impossible to listen to it and second, that it is impossible to have it performed. As to the first myth, Runchak’s music — although very contemporary in expression (from exotic arrangements of players, unusual combinations of instruments, and strange, often comical names of compositions) — is beautiful to listen to and the average listener leaves his concert in a mood of peaceful contemplation. As for the second, while most contemporary composers dream of one or two performances of their works a year, Runchak is being performed practically nonstop all over the continent. From England and Germany to Italy and France, on and on. For a 39 year old composer who has no manager, no money, and speaks no foreign language, this is quite a feat and should tell us something.
Take November 1997, Paris. For eight-concert European Week of the Music of Today festival, the French Society of Contemporary Music and the National Union of Composers invited Runchak to take part and arranged for a concert of his music exclusively. Quite an honor!
Or take Berlin, 1999. For the ninth time Runchak was invited to the prestigious Brandenburg Colloquium to deliver a paper, this time on Ukrainian contemporary composers and take part in a choral work competition. Runchak’s work was awarded honorable mention, as no other prizes were planned by the competition. 1999 saw Runchak also in Sweden, Moscow, Sofia, Italy, Turkey, and so on.
The April 18 concert is being given as a part of the New Music in Kyiv series, which Runchak initiated in 1998.
