The Way to the Great River Concert performance of works by Alla Zagaykevich related to Oleg Lyshega’s drama “Brother Li Bo… Friend Du Fu…” – as fragments of future chamber opera of Alla Zagaykevych. Oleg Lyshega’s poetry invites the listener to return to the original unity with the world, inspired by Eastern philosophy, which sees nature not as the background of human life, but as its deepest meaning. Today, this poetic universe receives new musical life in the work of Alla Zagaykevich. The concert will feature several works performed by the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra conducted by Natalia Ponomarchuk, the star mezzo-soprano Yaryna – Alexandra Turyanska-Melier (Ukraine/France), the famous banud player Elizaveta Solovyova and the composer herself – Alla Zagaykevich. Voice, orchestra, bandura and electronics create a space in which the music does not illustrate the text, but breathes with it. Here, the Big Bumblebee, the Forest and the River act alongside people, and music leads the way – from the human voice to the voice of nature, from the source – to the Big River. The opera is based on the eponymous mystery of Oleg Lyshega (1949–2014), one of the most original Ukrainian poets of the second half of the 20th century. He was called a hermit poet: he listened attentively to nature, silence and the primordial rhythm of the world. For Lyshega, nature was not a topic of poetry, but an interlocutor. The great poets Li Bo and Du Fu became the poet’s spiritual interlocutors. It was this fascination with Eastern culture and philosophy that became the source of the poetic world that Alla Zagaykevich embodies in music today. Performers: Kyiv Chamber Orchestra Natalia Ponomarchuk, conductor Yaryna – Oleksandra Turyanska-Mellie (Ukraine/France), mezzo-soprano Elizaveta Solovyova, bandura Alla Zagaykevich, electronics Marina Ryzhova, director *The concert “The Way to the Great River” will be part of the “Modern and Timeless” project, launched by the Master Class House and the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in 2023, which is a series of original concerts by contemporary Ukrainian composers performed by the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra under the baton of conductor Natalia Ponomarchuk. ENTRANCE TO THE EVENT IS FREE