November 24th
An open mic followed with original poetry readings by Dmitry Garanin, Albert Rosenblat, Naum
Nakhimovsky, Aneta Meiman, Irena Petruk, Rosalia Spektor, Aaron Nirshberg and Peter Kramer.
July 21st
The Brooklyn Library, New Utrecht Branch, hosted the Pushkin Society in America in a literature & music program "Pushkin in the context of American culture". Writer Natalia Asenkova presented a short lecture about Pushkin in both Russian and English and told the audiences about a museum complex "Pushkin Hills" and about her novel "Against the background of Survivor." Nina Rumiantseva, presented information about the new off-Broadway play by Jonathan Leaf - "Pushkin", which will premiere in New York Black Box Theater on July 25 and run till August 25,2018.
Then, Larissa Grabois, a young, versatile singer and a member of the Pushkin Society since 2013, entertained the audience with an exclusive
concert of Russian Romances to the accompaniment of Polina Pecherskaya, as well as sang songs in Italian,French, Spanish,English and even in Chinese! The multilingual vocals were
accompanied by Larissa herself on piano and keyboard, with the participation of a virtuoso guitarist from NJ, Mitchell Tonelson. Having recently formed their charming musical duo, Larissa
and Mitch have not only been performing together in various venues across NY and NJ, but have been also collaborating on recording and releasing their original musical compositions.
Larissa, an honors graduate of John J. School of Music of MSU, showcases many of her works on her website at www.larissagmusic.info, where one can soon acquire her new CD album, "Mitch & Lara-The Instrumental Jam Bash" and many others.
In conclusion, Valentina Ganopolsky, a representative of library administration, thanked the organizers for the event and the wonderful concert and accepted a gift from the Pushkin Society-books in Russian, which will be on display at the library and available to readers.
June 20th
A presentation of a new project took place in the Brooklyn library (Sheepshead Bay branch).
The Project “English Literature in Russian Translations” was established to help Russian-speaking immigrants integrate with the culture of the country which has become their new homeland. Starting at the Van Nest Library in the Bronx, the Project, with the assistance of the Pushkin Society of America, extends to other areas of New York where the Russian-speaking population of the megalopolis lives compactly. The author of the project is Nina Rumiantseva. She also composed a bright quiz about outstanding figures of America. Irena Petruk, who scored the highest points, was announced the winner. She was awarded with a special prize - the book Pushkin in the Etchings by Ilya Shenker.
May 31st
A Queens representative of the Pushkin Society, Julia Khramtsova, held a meet-and-greet of creative people, and organized speeches in Russian. The event resulted in the reading of both her own and other classic works, the performance of songs with a guitar accompaniment, and the presentation of minorly copyrighted works of art.
In an informal setting, the Society plans for the formation of a literary guild, cooperation with American organizations and festive events dedicated to A.S. Pushkin were progressed further.
May 26th
in Book Cafe on Staten Island a literary and musical evening was held. The program was opened by writer, artist and former Soviet
dissident Anna-Nina Kovalenko. The author spoke about her books and artwork in Russian and English, and then answered questions about her work.
Afterwards she introduced the public to the literary works of Aneta Meiman; journalist, publicist and fellow artist, who also displayed her works on the stage.
In the end, poems by the New York poet, parodist, and musical screenwriter Irina Aks was read.
The musical department was represented by a trio - two violins and a guitar - by Reverie String Ensemble which was composed of Natalia Vsevolodovskaya, Anna Lerner and Joseph Zilberman. They
performed classic and contemporary works.
May 19th
a lecture titled "Achievement of modern photography" was held. It was delivered to the audience by photographer and designer Alex Ag.
As a specialist in panoramic and conceptual photography, Alex is engaged in researching the nature of the photo itself, trying to explain how modern images are created and how they interact with the viewer, creating a special effect of the narrative image. The theory that uses the cognitive potential of photography has become the direction of visual sociology, which creates new tools for the study of society.
May 17th
In the halls of the Grand Central Library in Manhattan, the exhibition of the Pushkin Society’s Artists’ Guild was opened. The works were presented by; Natalia Max, Elena Dobrovolskaya, Victoria Kondratyuk, Olga Melamud-Pavlovich and Alexander Dudorov.
A lecture by Elena Dobrovolskaya followed, on the topic of "Russian impressionists - Valentin Serov and Konstantin Korovin." Elena is an artist and a guide with a 15-year experience of tours to museums of European art. In her speech, Elena drew attention to the fact that the impressionism of the Russian school has its own specifics, and in many respects does not coincide with the textbook concept of classical mpressionism, birthed in France during the XIX century.
May 12th
in the Brooklyn library of New York Branch Sheepshead Bay, a guest from Israel Uri Litvak held an event. Svetlana Negrimovskaya, the director of the office, introduced the author's biography to the audience and spoke about the library's many years of cooperation with the Pushkin Society. She then gave the floor over to Anna Nemerovskaya, the Head Writer at the Microphone club. Afterwards, guest Uri Litvak led his creative evening. His field of interest is liturgical literature and music. On the court of spectators, he handed down copies of the poems published in his book, several of which he presented to the archives of the Society and the department of the library’s Russian books.
A lively discussion followed the concluding speech, in which journalists of the Russian-language press Marina Logunova and Vitaly Orlov, as well as Yulia Khramtsova, Semyon Pechersky, Natalia Asenkova and others took part.
May 3rd
The Second Annual Festival was held in the Terni Cultural Institute in NYC. This year was so marked the 145th birthday anniversary of Sergey Rachmaninov. “An Uncompromising Power of Expression: A Rhapsody in Diversity” is a true celebration of Art and Music with participants as diverse as their art.
Participating artists: Alex Ag, Alexandr Dudorov, Elena Dobrovolskaya, Marina Gershman, Elena Iosilevich, Yelena Kimelblat, Simon Kaplan, Natalia Koren Kropfm, Nina Kossman, Yelena Lezhen, Natalia Maks, Julia Michry, Aleksandr Rees, Alex Shabatinas, Evgeni Tonevitski and Mikhail Zvyagin.
Musicians: Irina Nuzova – piano, Natalia Medvedovskaya – piano.
Part two: Adrian Daurov - cello, Galina Ivannikova - mezzo-soprano.
The festival was opened by the President of the society Victoria Kurchenko, art director Elena Yoselevich and musical director Natalia Medvedovskaya.
Some documents were exhibited at the festival, in particular photo of Rachmaninoff by Edward Steichen in 1936. After World War II Mr. Steichen was the Director of the Department of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art until 1962.
April 22nd
Julia Khramtsova inaugurated the representation of the Pushkin Society in America in the largest area of New York - Queens.
The literary part was opened with the poems of Pushkin and Brodsky. Elena Golovanova-Starenko opened an exhibition of her books-clamshells and voiced their capacious content. Alexander Ag, photo artist and curator of the projects, talked about the nearest opening days of the society. Writer Olga Timshchuk and artist Bogdan Vroz came from Connecicut to attend the evening. Nina Rumyantseva, who has lived in the US for only eight months, offered to organize a linguistic theater. Delilah Lipovetskaya, Polina Pecherskaya, Boris Borukaev and Vladimir Fadeyev read their poetry.
April 19th
Members of the Art Guild and Musicians of the Pushkin Society performed in poetic hypostases. Elena Iosilevich, the project curator and art director, presented two new books by Yefim Medvedovsky; "In the Archive of Memory" about the Leningrad blockade during World War II, and the lyric collection by Mikhail Zvyagin titled "Necessary Pain".
Gena Gruz, Yefim Medvedovsky and Mikhail Gurevich read their poems. Arthur Litvak recited the poetic texts of Mikhail Zvyagin with great skill. The evening was a collaboration of different genres, which caused a special interest from listeners.
April 14th
In the bohemian district of Manhattan in the cafe "Vivaldi" sounded a violin concert organized by the musical guild of the Pushkin Society in America, which is formed during this year under the guidance of the pianist and composer Natalia Medvedovskaya. The program was dedicated to the 340th anniversary of the birth of Antonio Vivaldi. The walls of the club were decorated with series of works by Elena Iosilevich, "Love in Three Colors" and "Adam and Eve. Rebirth".
April 13th
The literary-musical program "Boris Chichibabin and Yevgeny Yevtushenko - the tangle of destinies" was held at the Zinc club. In the performance of Vladimir Nuzov, poetry, memories and stories about meetings with poets were heard. The musical application was prepared by Olga Slavnina, who played Bach, Beethoven and Mozart.
The Kharkov literary theme was continued by the journalist Vitaly Orlov, who read a few quotations from the unpublished manuscript of Boris Chichibabin and showed photographs of the 1960s from his personal archive.
March 31st
In the hospitable Book Cafe on Staten Island the performances of writer Natalia Asenkova and bard Mark Belitsky were executed with great success.
Natalia Asenkova talked about her work, touching upon the plot lines, which paid great attention to the problem of personal development. The author dwelled in detail on the storyline of the piece "Against the Supporter", which concerns the appearance of Alexander Pushkin, and also at his work in the Archive of Literature and Art in Leningrad. Real materials and documents formed the basis of the novel "Artists". In conclusion Natalia answered the questions of listeners.
Mark Belitsky, a poet and bard, was born in Leningrad and emigrated to the United States in 1975. He began to write poetry and songs in adulthood. Soon he won his own audience and became a frequent guest of radio and television broadcasts. He also often performed in the famous "Russian Samovar." In his concert, Mark performed both new songs and the ones well-known in the circle of his admirers. Of particular interest were the stories related to the process of "birth" of the song, memories of friendship with Eugene Raine and meetings with Evgeny Evtushenko.
March 29th
In the library of Manhattan (Grand Central Library) a creative evening of writer Anna Nemerovskaya was held, where the presentation of the second edition of her novel "And Gave the Most Noble to Man Free Will" was held. The program also featured a small exhibition of the author's photographs. After the break, there was a discussion of the posed topic; freedom of will and fatal fate. Elena Gracheva, Vladimir Nuzov and Arkady Pyanin made comments on the product.
February 15th
There was a poetry evening at Grand Central Library in Manhattan where we were happy to
introduce four talented poets - Jacob Miller, Nina Kossman, Alena Baksht, and Natalia Koren Kropf.
Jacob Miller read poems from his book “Lines From a Canvas“. Natalia Koren and Alena Baksht talked about love and life, nature and humanity. Nina Kossman presented
her book “Gods and Mortals”. The event was curated by Elena Iosilevich.
February 3rd
At
the Brooklyn library, the psychologist Elena Brodova presented her "Literary Masquerade". During the speech, she introduced the
audience to the basics of psychological literacy and conducted training with them on the practical skills of everyday's life. After the break Elena held the presentation of her book "Fairy Tales from a
Pink Pot".
Fragments of the texts were dramatized by actors "from the public". The author also read her poems, in the words of which Polina Pecherskaya composed music and performed works that culminated in this diverse evening.
January 27th
A new site for performances in Russian and English
was opened in one of the districts of New York City - Staten Island. A bohemian type
cafe, inside which an exhibition hall, a shop, a library, a professional stage and a confectionery functioned at the same
time, was liked by the guests.
The Day of Tatiana and Eugene was dedicated to the 185th
anniversary of the first publication of the work of Alexander Pushkin "Eugene Onegin". Within the framework of the event, the exhibition of Pushkin's paintings by Eugeni Tonevitski
harmoniously blended in.
An exclusive concert with romances with a guitar, poetic readings in two languages and bright musical performances in country style, as well as conversations about literature have found a response from listeners.
January 23rd
A multifaceted show "Just to land in Tokyo" by Kuzma Vostrikov, a writer and a photo artist, took place in the premises of the Tenri Culural Institute in New York, in cooperation with the Museum
of Russian Art (MORA).
The first part included a presentation of the same mystical novel.
The second one - an exhibition of digital photographs, which were illustrations of the presented
book.
Visual interpretations were created with the help of abstract images: more than twenty independent works led the viewer to the idea of penetrating beyond the bounds of being, referring to
intertwining of new technologies and original oriental culture, exposing its stereotyped perception exclusively through meditative practices.
In conclusion, for the joy of the public, a jazz band was invited to the stage, which exceeded all expectations with its concert program.
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Оur Society is 89 years old!
Presidents of the Pushkin Society
1. Boris Brasol, founder (1935 -1963)
2. Gregory Mesniaeff (1963 -1967)
3. Semen Bogolubov (1967 -1971)
4. Serge Woyciechowski (1971 - 1973)
5. N. Baklanova-Bozhak (1973 - 1995) 6. Catherine Lodyjensky (1995 - 2009)
7. Victoria Kurchenko (2009 - present)