The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine is one of the finest ensembles of its kind in eastern Europe. The orchestra, founded in 1918, has performed world premieres by Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and other prestigious composers. Since 1993, the orchestra has recorded more than 100 albums, two of which were nominated for Grammy Awards.

“This is an orchestra with many virtues,” writes a reviewer for the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald. “Its strings can conjure up a vibrant songfulness; the woodwinds have a fruity, penetrating ripeness; the brass could endanger the walls of Jericho; the percussion might wake the dead.”

In its premiere performance at Eisenhower Auditorium, the orchestra’s program will include Kupalo of Kyiv Rus by contemporary Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych; Camille Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring soloist Volodymyr Vynnytsky; and Johannes Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98.

Ukrainian pianist Vynnytsky, laureate of the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud International Piano Competition in Paris, has performed with leading orchestras and in solo recitals at many of the world’s prominent concert halls. “The pianist is simply superb,” writes a reviewer for American Record Guide. He has had visiting faculty posts at various universities and is now the director of chamber music at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

Volodymyr Sirenko, also a native of Ukraine, has been artistic director and chief conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine since 1999. Off the stage, he is a professor of opera and symphonic conducting at the National Music Academy of Ukraine.