Registration REQUIRED by 4pm on November 16, 2026 to attend this event in-person.
Please join the Ukrainian Studies Program and the Harriman Institute for a lecture by Marika Kuzma. Moderated by Mark Andryczyk.
In anticipation of her concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on January 9th, Dr. Marika Kuzma, professor emerita of UC Berkeley and artistic director of the professional chamber choir Ensemble Cherubim, will discuss the brilliant phenomenon of a cappella music in Ukraine: how it has intersected with Ukraine’s political history and how its little-known treasures are unique within international choral repertoire. Each piece she will present—from carols to sacred concertos to choral fantasies by current composers—carries a unique, powerful story.
Marika Kuzma has enjoyed a varied career as a conductor, chorus master, and scholar of choral music. As a conductor, she has led concerts in prestigious venues such as Weill Recital Hall in New York City, Zellerbach Hall in the San Francisco Bay Area, Stephansdom in Vienna, and the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. She has collaborated as chorus master to luminary artists Gustavo Dudamel with the Simon Bolivar Orquesta, Kent Nagano with L’orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and Keri-Lynn Wilson with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, among others. As a scholar, she has published award-winning research and articles on Bortniansky, Brahms, and Stravinsky. Her recording of Bortniansky choral concertos on the Naxos label (2013) has gained international acclaim. Recently, she published a book on Ukrainian carols praised by musicians and historians alike, and a companion recording Carols of Birds, Bells, and Peace from Ukraine (Centaur Records) for sale and streaming online. As historian Serhii Plokhy writes of her book: “this is a book you can not only read but sing.” Her chamber choir Ensemble Cherubim, made up of leading American choral artists, bridges Ukrainian culture with global audiences, championing Ukrainian music coast to coast. It will perform concerts to benefit the children of Ukraine in Boston at St. Cecilia Church on January 7 and in New York at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on January 9. ensemblecherubim.org
