Martin Labazevitch & Stanislav Khristenko

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849): Rondo Op.73 Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937): Harnasie, arr. Joanna Domanska Tableau I – In the Mountain Pasture 1. Transhumance 2. Mimic Scene (Courtship) 3. The Tatra Robbers’ March 4. Mimic scene (The Harnaś and the Girl) 5. The Tatra Robbers’ Dance. Finale Tableau II – In the Inn 6. The Wedding Capping the Bride Boys’ Song 7. The Tatra Highlanders’ Dance 8. Raid of the Harnasie. Dance. Abduction of the Bride 9. Epilogue Claude Debussy (1862-1918): Prélude à l'Après-midi d'un faune L.86 Erik Satie (1886-1925): Portrait de Socrate, “Socrate” transcr. John Cage Maurice Ravel (1875-1937): La valse, poème chorégraphique pour orchestra, transcr. Ravel Longtime collaborators Martin Labazevitch and Stanislav Khristenko present a bold celebration of Polish and French masterworks for two pianos. This spectacular program brings together Frédéric Chopin’s Rondo, Op. 73, the Washington, DC, premiere of Karol Szymanowski’s Harnasie, alongside Claude Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, Erik Satie’s Socrate in John Cage’s striking arrangement, and Maurice Ravel’s electrifying La Valse. This performance is generously sponsored by Martha R. Johnston and Pam and Paul Kaplan. Presented in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. Performers Martin Labazevitch, piano Stanislav Khristenko, piano raised by critics for his lyricism, virtuosity and an intensity of performance, pianist Martin Labazevitch appeared in many concert halls and festivals in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Peru and the United States. Born in Poland, Mr. Labazevitch studied at the Odessa Conservatory in Ukraine and at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 2019 he received Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Rome School of Music, Drama and Art in Washington D.C. His main teachers and mentors include Nina Svetlanova, Horacio Gutierrez, Dmitri Bashkirov, Bella Davidovich and Jorge Luis Prats. He has been a soloist with orchestras in Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Japan, and the United States. Of his debut album release on the Delos label, of the Chopin Concerto with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra lead by Ewa Strusinska, the Fanfare Magazine wrote: “His way of Chopin is fluid and convincing. He plays with a superb control of rubato and has the most beautiful way of melting a phrase.” Of the same album, ConcertoNet wrote, “...he pleasantly refrains from overtaxing Chopin’s conclusive Allegro vivace with shimmering grandeur and eloquent precision that could even rival that of Arthur Rubinstein.” Mr. Labazevitch is a recipient of the Harold Bauer Award, for the most promising pianist at the Manhattan School of Music, Grand Prize at the Artists International Competition in New York, winner of the La Gesse Foundation Auditions in Washington D.C. as well as the winner of the Rome School of Music Concerto Competition in Washington D.C., performing Brahms Piano Concerto No.1, Op.15. He is the Cultural Ambassador of the city of Stalowa Wola, Poland and in 2025 he received the Kosciuszko Foundation Appreciation Award. An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated with Isidore Cohen, Lukas Foss, Ruth Laredo, Andrés Cárdenes, Amit Peled, Alexander Fiterstein, Ju-Young Baek, Michael Mermagen, as well as the Spokane, Mount Vernon Virtuosi and Vilnius String Quartets. After his piano trio debut at Carnagie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Strad Magazine wrote: “... exuberant, multi-faceted, ...gripping from first note to the last.” Mr. Labazevitch has worked with several prominent contemporary composers, such as Lukas Foss, Richard Danielpour, Sharon Farber and Lori Laitman. Performance highlights of the recent seasons include: Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York, Terrace Theater at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Damme Myra Hess Series in Chicago, Chopin Foundation in Miami, Seattle Chamber Music Society and the Philharmonic Society of Lima, Peru. An enthusiastic educator, Mr. Labazevitch has been sharing his passion for teaching with students at the Levine School of Music in Washington D.C. He is also the Co-Founder of the Berkshire Piano Academy, in Massachusetts as well as the Artistic Director of the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Piano Competition and Chopin Piano Academy in Washington D.C., the oldest Chopin contest in the United States of which Van Cliburn, Murray Perahia, Kirill Gerstein and many other luminaries of the piano world became the laureates. In 2022 Mr. Labazevitch co-founded The Paderewski Academy, a pioneer hybrid piano academy based in Zurich, Switzerland. Mr. Labazevitch is a Steinway Artist. Described as a “poet of piano” by Le Soir (Belgium), Ukrainian-born American pianist Stanislav Khristenko has performed in some of the world’s major concert halls. He has been praised for “emotional intensity”, “charismatic expression”, “palette of touches”, “solid” and “precise technique” by The New York Times, The W