On August 15, a symphonic gala concert was held as a result of master classes of young symphonic conductors. The initiator of the master class was the Student Scientific and Creative Society “Octopus” of the National Music Academy of Ukraine, which, in partnership with the Lviv National Philharmonic, managed to create a project that allowed students to join the professional life of the art institution while still studying, to immerse themselves in the creative atmosphere of the Philharmonic, to adopt unique experience of world-class specialists and expand the horizons of your professional future in Ukraine.

Chief conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar, shared his impressions of the project mentoring:

“The career growth of the world’s greatest conductors also began with master classes, and the industry of conducting master classes has been very popular for the last 10 years. Therefore, when the Octopus Student Organization offered me such cooperation, I gladly supported it, because it is especially important for the development of every beginner conductor. Because when I was studying, there were no similar opportunities in our field, and this is the best chance to try yourself as a conductor.

The concept of master classes for conductors is not being implemented in Ukraine for the first time, and it was important for me that it be held specifically for Ukrainians, also during the selection of participants, and I know that there were more than 250 applications, when choosing it was important for me to maintain equality between men and women, at least half of the participants, since the master class was in Lviv, she was from Lviv. I chose the ones that were worth it. The pieces chosen for the evening were well known to the orchestra, having been performed many times during the previous season – Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 was played 25 times. Conductor participants had time to work with the orchestra. And the Symphonic Gala Concert was quite successful.”

We express our sincere gratitude to the partners of the project – the Student Scientific and Creative Society “Medianta” of the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy and the Charity Fund “Open Music of the City”, which, within the framework of the “For the Future” project, takes care of supporting young musicians in Ukraine and helps young musicians to perform with Ukrainian orchestras and Ukrainian philharmonics.