A Russian Soirée of Fantasy, Love and Resistance 


We present a most aptly-timed concert of all-Russian classical music following on the heels of our own presidential inauguration with all of its controversies and complexities.  

Russian music and poetry have been the voice of the people crossing over eras and regimes, enduring and inspiring all in its wake. This singularly powerful culture of expression imparts the passions of love, despair, fight, and resistance that continue to resonate in Russia and beyond.  

Our program reaches back to dramas in Russian lives played out in the last century and continuing today. It travels through deeply-Russian piano and voice works by Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Scriabin, and compelling cello and piano music of Alfred Schnittke and Arvo Part. Complimentary writings will be spoken in both Russian and English. 


Alexander Scriabin 
Sonata Fantasy for piano

Sergei Rachmaninoff 
Preludes from op. 32 for piano 
Songs for mezzo-soprano 

Dmitri Shostakovich 
Poems by Marina Tsvetayeva  
for mezzo-soprano 

Alfred Schnittke 
Five Preludes for piano

Sergei Prokofiev 
Poems by Anna Akhmatova  
for mezzo-soprano

Arvo Pärt 
Pieces for cello and piano 
with poetry writings spoken  
in English and Russian

Performing Artists 
Tatyana Rashkovsky, mezzo-soprano  
Yoni Draiblate, cello 
Katarzyna Marzec-Salwinski, pianist  
Rollin Wilber, pianist 
Inna Lobanova-Heasley, poetry reader