If I... a concert/cabaret

Vira + Friends presents If I... a concert/cabaret

Join contralto Vira Slywotzky and pianist Ana Glig for an evening of classical and popular music from England, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Poland, Ukraine and the United States.
Questions? Email hello@viraandfriends.org.
About the artists...

Vira Slywotzky has performed principal roles with Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Chelsea Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, Sarasota Opera, Boston Midsummer Opera and Victor Herbert Renaissance Project - LIVE! She has sung concerts, recitals and cabarets in New York City venues from The Duplex to Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and on tour all over the United States. Internationally Slywotzky has been heard in Canada, France, Hungary, Sweden and Wales.

A champion of new music, she has workshopped and premiered more than 30 works including songs, full scale opera and narration with orchestra.

Slywotzky has always been committed to keeping Ukrainian song alive and thriving; since February 2022 she has been serving as a cultural ambassador and fundraising for organizations providing aid to Ukraine. Slywotzky’s performances have served to collect over $250,000 to help soldiers and civilians in her ancestral homeland in their fierce fight to survive the ongoing attacks from the east and to ensure a peaceful and democratic future for Ukraine.

Participant in numerous competitions and winner of awards, most significantly Slywotzky was the sole representative of the USA at the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
www.viraslywotzky.com
“Vira Slywotzky is an immensely talented, charismatic performer who transforms herself, and captivates her audience with her songs and tales.” - The Village View
ANA GLIG (aka Gligvashvili) is a an award-winning Georgian-American pianist, recognized for her “virtuosic command of works” (Prufrocks Dilemma Wordpress) and “ability to capture hearts” (Musical America Worldwide).

As a soloist and chamber musician, Glig has appeared at venues such as New York City’s Steinway Hall, Consulates of Poland and Germany, Ukrainian Institute of America, Bohemian National Hall, Faculty House at Columbia University, Subculture and numerous others. As a soloist with orchestra Glig has appeared in Georgia, Israel and the United States, recently including concerts with Cape Symphony and Cape Cod Chamber orchestras (Massachusetts) performing Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals and J.S. Bach’s D Minor Keyboard Concerto. Glig has been a featured soloist at Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, Illinois.

Glig’s playing is praised to “project the sense of excitement while retaining cleanliness and accuracy” (Fanfare Magazine). In her album ‘Reminiscences’ Glig’s playing was also recognized for it’s “..sensitivity and ability to finely capture some of Georgia’s haunting, elusive film melodies ..as well as anyone on disc.“ (Fanfare Magazine). Other performance reviews praised her “lovely expressiveness, clarity in legato, balance and perfect logic” (Chatham Music Club, MA). Ana Glig is a founder of multi-media concerts MusArt Interconnections, with focus on synthesis of classical music and visual art. Glig’s professional engagements include masterclasses in the Republic of Georgia, Cape Cod (Massachusetts) and University of New Hampshire (Durham, MA). Glig received her Master’s degree in piano performance from Mannes School of Music -The New School (NYC), an Advanced Certificate in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from New York University (NYU Steinhardt), where she also served as a member of Adjunct Piano Faculty. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in piano performance from Tbilisi State Conservatoire (Republic of Georgia) under mentorship of her beloved professor Revaz Tavadze. Her teachers also include prolific pianist-pedagogues such as Eteri Andjaparidze, Marine Gelashvili and Victor Rosenbaum among others. Glig is a dedicated teacher, solo and collaborative musician. Her recent collaborations include performances with contralto Vira Slywotzky and Cape Symphony’s principal cellist Jacques Lee Wood. Glig is an artist faculty member at Cape Symphony and Music Director at the First United Methodist Church in Chatham.

Vira Slywotzky founded Vira + Friends in May 2018 with the intent of bringing people together to enjoy the live performance of music written for voice and piano. Since that time Vira + Friends has become a mobile musical variety show with the expanded missions of developing audiences for classical music and providing a platform for composers traditionally neglected by the Western canon. Vira + Friends thrives on partnering with organizations such as the Billion Oyster Project and Razom for Ukraine, promoting their work and fundraising for them through themed concerts. Two exciting developments of the past year include the launch of a long term international project presenting the works of women composers past and present and the formation of the Ukrainian Music Initiative. Vira + Friends is a nonprofit corporation under the auspices of the Ukrainian American Educational Center of Boston, a 501(c)(3).

Host or Publisher Vira & Friends