PVMA to host Ukrainian pianist

By CHRIS LARABEE

Staff Writer

Published: 08-11-2023 12:22 PM

DEERFIELD — As the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association’s Sunday concert series continues, it is welcoming an award-winning Ukrainian pianist to town.

Liana Paniyeva will grace Memorial Hall Museum’s Music Room on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 3 p.m. The Boston-based pianist will perform a variety of pieces, including Mykola Lysenko’s “Dream” and Viktor Kosenko’s Etude in F-sharp minor.

Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Executive Director Tim Neumann said the museum hosts classical music events every summer and a Ukrainian artist fits perfectly into the history of Deerfield.

“I was drawn to the idea of hosting a Ukrainian artist given Deerfield and the surrounding Ukrainian community,” he said, “which have been active in PVMA’s eastern European immigration projects and celebrations over the years, as well as, of course, all of our concerns of the present war against Ukraine.”

An accomplished musician, Paniyeva has earned several prizes in international competitions, including in the George Gershwin International Music Competition in 2019 and the grand prize at New York’s Metropolitan International Piano Competition in 2012. Neumann said she reached out to the museum in the winter and he was worried PVMA wouldn’t be able to pay her enough to play, but she “graciously” accepted the request and worked with concert series underwriter Arrivability Car Service of South Hadley to arrange the show.

Beyond music from Ukrainian composers, Paniyeva also expects to play Maurice Ravel’s “Sonatine,” Cesar Franck’s “Prelude, Choral et Fugue” and Robert Schumann’s “Faschungsschwank aus Wien.”

The concert series continues on Aug. 20 with a classical string trio and on Aug. 27 with the Valtchev-Tchekoratova Duo. The series ends on Sept. 3 with The Deerfield Trio.

Tickets for Paniyeva’s performance, as well as others in the Old Deerfield Sunday Afternoon Concert Series, are available at the door, with adult tickets going for $15 and seniors and students being admitted for $8. Concerts are held in Memorial Hall Museum’s Music Gallery at 8 Memorial St.

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Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com or 413-930-4081.

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