Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s genocidal invasion has inspired the world. Ukrainian culture, including art, literature, design and music, which for centuries has been suppressed and threatened with elimination, is a key element of the fight.

UKRAINIAN MUSIC INITIATIVE (UMI) is a collaboration of four independent artists - contralto Vira Slywotzky, cellist Valeriya Sholokhova, pianists Margarita Rovenskaya and Pavlo Gintov - who have a longstanding history of commitment to Ukrainian music. UMI’s goal is to elevate Ukrainian classical music to its rightful place in the Western canon and to fill a significant gap in the US’ cultural landscape, that of skilled and knowledgeable musicians of Ukrainian heritage performing the breadth of Ukrainian classical music.