The Musical Club of Westfield is planning a special event for Sunday, November 19 which will feature the musical heritage of central Europe. Celebrating its 102 year, The Musical Club is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that offers monthly performances by local and guest musicians, sponsors the monthly meetings and the yearly concerts of the Junior Musical Club, and supports college music majors with scholarships.
The upcoming November concert, Music From the Heart of Europe, is a biennial fundraising concert to support the Musical Club of Westfield scholarship program. Each year, college bound students from Union County have the opportunity to apply and audition for scholarships to assist them as they pursue a degree in music. In 2017, the club granted over $14,000 in scholarships. Each scholarship is renewable; providing up to four years of financial support to young musicians.
This years’ Scholarship Concert will feature club members and special guests, performing instrumental and vocal music of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and other noted composers, along with a wonderful selection of traditional music.Tickets for the event, which will be held at the Baptist Church of Westfield, 170 Elm St., Westfield, NJ, are $10 and include a post-concert reception to meet the artists. 100% of ticket sales will go to the scholarship fund.
One of the dozen musicians performing will be pianist Helen Ryba. Ms. Ryba started studying music at the age of four at Mykola Lysenko Music School in Kiev, Ukraine, and earned a B.A. in music from Glière Music College in Kiev, Ukraine. She then earned a M.M. with high honors from Kiev State Conservatory. Ms. Ryba performs a wide range of solo piano repertoires with emphasis on the music of Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Ravel, and Shostakovich. Additionally, Ukrainian music takes a special place in her repertoire; she performs Ukrainian music of all historic periods – from the classical era composer Dmytro Bortniansky to the modern Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk. For this special event Ms. Ryba will be performing Victor Kosenko’s two etudes – gavottes in the form of the old dances no. 1 and no. 7 and Myroslav Skoryk’s Prelude and Fugue F Major.
For tickets to the event please contact Kay Macrae at 973-376-4307 or Drude Crane at 908-233-0030.
(above) Pianist Helen Ryba.
