Ukrainian Resonance: 'Dragon Songs' Ballet, Kharkiv Opera Bomb Shelter Live

Organized by the 1991 Project with the and . Livestream of a concert organized by the Kharkiv State Opera. We acknowledge the generous support of the EHA Foundation for making this concert possible.

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The ballet Dragon Songs is an unconventional parable about people and dragons, set to music by Maxim Kolomiiets, the only Ukrainian composer ever commissioned to write a contemporary opera for the Metropolitan Opera.

This production will be performed from the bomb shelter stage of the Kharkiv State Opera, marking the first original performance created by the Kharkiv State Opera after the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The 1991 Project presents a livestream of the ballet at Reid Hall in Paris, in collaboration with the and . Following the broadcast, the audience at Reid Hall will enjoy a discussion of the work with composer Maxim Kolomiiets and the 1991 Project's artistic director, musicologist and opera critic Anna Stavychenko.

This production brought together the talents of theater director Zhanna Chepela, who wrote the libretto, choreographer Antonina Radievskaya, and theater artist and fashion designer Konstantyn Ponomarev. According to the theater, the project came to life unexpectedly. Composer Maxim Kolomiiets initially published the music online, where Zhanna Chepela, director of the Kharkiv National Opera, discovered it and found herself captivated by its hypnotic melodies. The magic of Kolomiiets’s composition soon inspired the entire creative team.

Ukrainian Resonance: Chamber Music Concerts at Reid Hall

The presents a chamber music concert series featuring performances by Ukrainian musicians affected by war, as well as their renowned international colleagues, who are popularizing the Ukrainian repertoire. The series aims to promote Ukrainian music and highlight its deep connections to European cultural trends.

As the 2023-24 project-in-residence at the Reid Hall Displaced Artists Initiative, the 1991 Project has organized six concerts, as well as co-organized events in partnership with Eastern Circles, the Arts Arena, the Zadkine Museum, and the Centre international Nadia et Lili Boulanger. This followed their inaugural series, the Silvestrov Days in Paris in spring 2023, which celebrated one of Ukraine’s greatest contemporary composers.

This series is organized by the 1991 Project, the Columbia Global Paris Center, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination.

Organizers

The is a Paris-based initiative that aims to explore and popularize unknown or rarely performed repertoire and to support endangered talents. Its core principles are social entrepreneurship and feminist leadership. The project is led by Anna Stavychenko, a scholar in musicology, opera critic, and classical music curator, former executive director of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Harriman Resident of the Institute for Ideas & Imagination from Columbia University during the season 2022-2023. The project’s main focus is the Ukrainian musical repertoire from classicism to the present day.

The , established at Reid Hall in 2010, is one of Columbia University’s eleven global centers. It aims to promote research, teaching, and transnational collaboration. Through its scholarly and cultural programming, its Atelier podcast, and its civic engagement initiatives, the Paris Global Center strengthens Columbia University’s connections in France and internationally while providing a platform for intellectual exploration of social and environmental issues in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.

Each year the brings together a cohort of 14-15 Fellows, half of them Columbia faculty and post-docs, the other half artists and writers from around the world, to spend a year together in work and conversation. The Institute fosters intellectual and creative diversity unconstrained by medium and discipline through the interaction of the arts and academia.

brings together major global initiatives from across the university including the Columbia Global Centers, Columbia World Projects, the Committee on Global Thought, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, and Undergraduate Global Engagement.

Venue

Nestled in the Montparnasse district, Reid Hall hosts several Columbia University initiatives: the Columbia Global Paris Center, the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, the Columbia Undergraduate Programs, the M.A. in History and Literature, and the GSAPP Shape of Two Cities Program. This unique combination of resources is enhanced by our global network whose mission is to expand the University's engagement with the world through educational programs, research initiatives, regional partnerships, and public events.

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

The views and opinions expressed by speakers and guests do not necessarily reflect the official policies or positions of the Columbia Global Paris Center or its affiliates.

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