…A Concert of Hope and Love
Program For Concert CLICK HERE
St. Francis Episcopal Church, Great Falls, 9220 Georgetown Pike, will present pianist Sasha Beresovsky in a concert of Ukrainian piano music on May 14th at 7:30 pm in the church sanctuary. Also, an art exhibition of the paintings of Varvara Agabekova. The concert will be followed by a reception to meet the artist in the church social hall. This benefit concert is given to support the raising of funds for humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Funds raised will be channeled to United Help Ukraine. Questions regarding this concert can be answered by calling 240-538-7870.
Sasha Beresovsky is a graduate of Indiana University, where he received his Master’s degree and Performance Diploma studying with the late Edmund Battersby. He regularly appears at The Lyceum in Old Town Alexandria as part of the Summer Chamber Music Series of WMPA, in 2015, presenting Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. Sasha has spent the years 2017-20 in Boston, where he taught private lessons and with a group of friends, organized the Boston Community Studio. Other performances have included solo recitals at the Victor Kosenko Museum in Kiev (2017-19) the Rhodes Scholar House in Oxford, UK (2018) and Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto with the Belmont Festival orchestra (2017).
From the wind-swept strains of Crimea to Carpathian folk tunes, to music inspired by the poetry of Taras Shevchenko, come hear a rhapsody of Ukrainian compositions by Lysenko, Lyatoshynsky, and others. Works by Grieg, Janacek, and Bartok support the program, connecting the music to other European traditions.
In support of https://unitedhelpukraine.org St. Francis Episcopal Church, Great Falls is pleased to present the paintings of Varvara Agabekova in tandem with the concert performed by pianist Sasha Beresovsky. Varvara Agabekova’s works will be exhibited in Millen Hall and can be viewed before the piano concert and during the reception that will follow. A number of Varvara’s works will be for sale, the proceeds of which will be donated to the above organization which provides humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine. Her works will be able to be viewed following the services on Sunday, May 15th, and May 22nd.
Varvara Agabekova was born in St. Petersburg in an artistic family. Both her grandfather and father were artists and so she began her artistic life at a young age, working on collages and exploring color. During her early life her grandfather, Renat Fridman, was her main mentor. He was born and grew up in Kiev. Varvara began her formal training in St. Petersburg at the Art College of N. Roerich (1997-2003), and then at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts, (2005-2011) where she was awarded 2 medals in painting and her diploma with honors. In 2011 she graduated from the Academy with highest honors and commendation of the State Certificate Committee and began her own career as an art teacher. Upon her graduation she became a member of the Art Union of Russia and her paintings have been in many group and solo exhibitions throughout the past decade.
In 2014, Varvara participated in the exhibitions in San Diego and Los Angeles. In 2016 she was invited to join an exhibition of French, Russian and American artists “Realism without borders”, and had a solo exhibition at the “Giotto” school. In 2017, she showed her work at “Far from the large cities” exhibition at the Union and in 2019 participated in the international plein air exhibition in Pietramelara, Italy. In 2021-22 she has been taking part in exhibitions in Rockville, MD. Her paintings are in private collections in Russia, the USA, France and Spain.
Artist statement
“I have inherited the traditions of the Russian classical school of painting, which are the basis of all my work. At the Academy of Art in St. Petersburg, where I studied, one follows in the footsteps of artists such as Repin, Serov, and Fechin.
The work of these masters is characterized by a richness of color, a thick, generous application of paint with brushstrokes set in high relief, and a careful attention to visual composition.
Work done exclusively by daylight invites an ever more acute consideration of warmth-and-coolness, color interrelations and juxtapositions. In solving the problem of sustaining an overarching meta-hue all the canvas’ colors must somehow drive to this central point. I often work in a rather narrow gradient of colors; this is most keenly felt when applying white paint on an already white background – for instance, the white wall of a house in a snowy landscape.”