Sounds of Ukraine

Ukrainian Chamber Music Festival

Dear Music Friends,

I am delighted to announce that preparations for the 2026 season have begun. The “Sounds of Ukraine” Festival will take place for the third time – once again in the Cologne area.

This season, I would like to highlight the special connection between Ukraine and Europe. Each concert will bring a Ukrainian composer into dialogue with a European counterpart, revealing shared artistic lines and sources of inspiration.

The themes of the upcoming season:

Viktor Kosenko & Frédéric Chopin
Theodor Akimenko & the French School (including Claude Debussy)
Vasyl Barvinsky & Antonín Dvořák
Serhij Bortkiewicz & Karol Szymanowski
Valentyn Silvestrov & Giya Kancheli

Pianistin Violina Petrychenko

For many years, I have been organizing concerts featuring Ukrainian piano and chamber music to introduce European audiences to its richness and beauty. In recent years, interest in Ukrainian culture has grown significantly, and this positive response inspired the idea of creating a dedicated festival in Germany.

What was once a dream has now become reality: “Sounds of Ukraine” is already entering its third season. The festival brings together different eras, styles, and musicians who share the desire to make Ukrainian music heard throughout Europe.

The program combines Ukrainian and European music to highlight cultural connections and build artistic bridges. Through my studies and numerous concert activities in Germany, as well as my work as a soloist with the Lviv Philharmonic, I am active in both the German and Ukrainian musical worlds. This experience enables me to shape a festival that reflects the current cultural situation in Ukraine while also resonating with European audiences.

Concerts

Theodore Akimenko & Claude Debussy

Theodore Akimenko & Claude Debussy

Mar 5^th 18:30, Köln

The opening concert of the Sounds of Ukraine festival is dedicated to Akimenko Theodore (1876–1945) and Claude Debussy (1862–1918). Akimenko Theodore was a recognised figure in European musical life, but due to forced emigration and political circumstances he remained forgotten in Ukraine for decades. His music combines Ukrainian elements with German Romanticism and French Impressionism, creating a natural connection to Debussy. The programme features Akimenko Theodore’s four-hand piano works, Debussy’s Petite Suite, and solo piano pieces by Akimenko.

Valentyn Silvestrov & Giya Kancheli

Valentyn Silvestrov & Giya Kancheli

Apr 25^th 19:00, Köln

This concert is dedicated to two composers often described as “masters of silence.” The programme features two cycles: “Melodies of the Moment” by Valentin Silvestrov and “Letters to Friends” by Gia Kancheli. Both reflect on fleeting moments and on people who remain with us forever.

Serhii Bortkiewicz &Karol Szymanowski

Serhii Bortkiewicz &Karol Szymanowski

Jun 5^th 19:30, Köln

The music of Serhii Bortkiewicz and Karol Szymanowski brings together the cultural space of present-day Ukraine, Polish tradition, and early 20th-century European musical thought. Both composers were born in what is now Ukraine, experienced the dramatic upheavals of their time, and developed distinctive voices between Romanticism and Modernism. The programme features a violin sonata, lyrical miniatures, and mazurkas – a genre that forms a shared point of connection between the two composers

Viktor Kosenko & Frédéric Chopin

Viktor Kosenko & Frédéric Chopin

Aug 22^nd 19:30, Köln

This programme is dedicated to two Romantic composers for whom the piano was not merely an instrument, but a space of personal confession. At the centre of the concert are two piano sonatas: the Third Sonata by Viktor Kosenko and the Third Sonata by Frédéric Chopin. The anniversary year 2026, marking Viktor Kosenko, lends this programme a particularly deep and reflective meaning.

Vasyl Barvinsky & Antonín Dvořák

Vasyl Barvinsky & Antonín Dvořák

Aug 23^rd 19:30, Köln

The closing concert of the festival is dedicated to chamber music and the works of Vasyl Barvinsky and Antonín Dvořák. At the heart of the programme are two piano trios that unite Ukrainian and Czech musical traditions, folk inspiration, and European classical form.

Musicians

Violina Petrychenko, piano, artistic director

Violina Petrychenko

piano, artistic director

Violina Petrychenko sees her mission in making Ukrainian music and culture better known. She began her education in musicology and as a pianist in her hometown of Zaporizhia. Her studies took her to Kyiv, Weimar, Cologne and Essen. She currently works and teaches in Cologne. She has dedicated eight CD recordings to Ukrainian composers of the 20th century. Together with her ensembles, the Ukrainian pianist Violina Petrychenko brings the classical music of Ukraine to the concert halls of Europe.

Oleksandr Oliinyk , Piano

Oleksandr Oliinyk

Piano

Oleksandr Oliinyk is a young Ukrainian pianist with an active concert career in Ukraine and abroad. Originally from Poltava, he studied at the Mykola Lysenko College of Arts and is currently a student at the Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in Kyiv in the class of Professor Mariia Pukhlianko. Despite his young age, he has performed at leading Ukrainian philharmonic halls, collaborated with Ukrainian and European conductors, and undertook a concert tour of Lithuania in 2025. A laureate of international competitions and a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship of Ukraine, he is deeply committed to promoting Ukrainian music.

Nazarii Pylatiuk , Violine

Nazarii Pylatiuk

Violine

Nazarii Pylatiuk is one of the leading violinists of contemporary Ukraine, Professor at the Mykola Lysenko National Music Academy in Lviv and a soloist of the National House of Organ and Chamber Music of Ukraine. He performs internationally and is known for carefully structured concert programmes. Together with pianist Violina Petrychenko, he presented the first complete performance in Lviv of Valentin Silvestrov’s cycle “Melodies of the Moment.”

Kateryna Kostiuk, Violine

Kateryna Kostiuk

Violine

Kateryna Kostiuk, born in Kyiv, began studying violin at age five. She continued her education at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, earning her Bachelor's degree there and completing Master's programs in orchestral and solo performance. A winner of international competitions, she has been active in youth orchestras since 2013, notably as concertmaster of the International Youth Orchestra Academy in Germany. Passionate about chamber music, she co-founded Trio Sérénade in 2015. Kateryna has performed with prestigious orchestras and is currently a first violinist with the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker. Her versatile musical background in solo, orchestral, and chamber music delights audiences worldwide.

Rostyslav Fedyna , Piano

Rostyslav Fedyna

Piano

Rostyslav Fedyna is one of the leading young pianists of contemporary Ukraine. A prizewinner of numerous international competitions, he is deeply committed to the performance and promotion of Ukrainian piano music. In 2025, he presented the first complete cycle of Ukrainian piano sonatas in Ukraine (Barvinsky, Revutsky, Kosenko, Lyatoshynsky). He performs regularly as a soloist, chamber musician, and with orchestras.

Maria Fedyna, Piano

Maria Fedyna

Piano

Maria Fedyna is a young Ukrainian pianist specialising in chamber music and collaborative performance. She is a laureate of international competitions and a scholarship holder of the Wagner Society in Bayreuth. She performs actively in various ensemble formats, focusing on European and Ukrainian chamber repertoire, including works by Theodore Akimenko.

Kateryna Shalaiska, Violine

Kateryna Shalaiska

Violine

Kateryna Shalaiska is a violinist from Lviv who consistently includes works by Ukrainian composers in her concert programmes. She is a laureate of international and national competitions and performs both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles. Since 2021, she has been a member of the chamber orchestra “Virtuosi of Lviv.”

Modest Mentsinskyi, Violoncello

Modest Mentsinskyi

Violoncello

Modest Mentsinskyi is a Ukrainian cellist and conductor from Lviv, active as a soloist and chamber musician across Ukraine. He is a laureate of international competitions and a recipient of the Presidential Scholarship of Ukraine for young artists. Alongside his concert activity, he is also engaged in teaching and artistic research.

Lviv Trio, Trio

Lviv Trio

Trio

Kateryna Shalayska, Modest Mentsinskyi, and Mariia Fedyna are musicians from Lviv united by many years of shared work, studies, and friendship. They perform together regularly, shaping their programmes as coherent ensemble statements and spending much of their artistic life on stage. This trio naturally represents the contemporary Lviv performance scene, where chamber music forms the foundation of artistic thinking.

Contact

For seat reservations, select one of the concerts and fill out the form. For other enquiries, just send an email to