Pictured: Conductor Theodore Kuchar and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. Photo courtesy of the Sarasota Concert Association.

The Sarasota Concert Association presents the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine on Wednesday, January 18 at the Venice Performing Arts Center, and the Emerson String Quartet on Monday, January 30 at the Riverview Performing Arts Center in Sarasota. The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine, led by conductor Theodore Kuchar, is based in the medieval city of Lviv, was officially established in 1902 and its first concert took place in the Philharmonic Theater of Count Stanislav Skarbko (today known as the Ukrainian National Academic Theater of Drama). The Principal Conductor of the orchestra was Ludwik Vitezslav Czelianski (1870-1931). The program includes Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World, and Brahms’ Violin Concerto with violinist Vladyslava Luchenko. Luchenko, at age seven studied at the Lysenko Music School for highly gifted children in Kiev until 2006. Today, she performs on concert tours in Switzerland, Spain, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, including as a soloist with the Ukrainian Radio Orchestra and State Orchestra, and the Luzerner Symphony Orchestra. The Orchestra has toured extensively around the world including Poland, Italy, Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, and The People’s Republic of China. During the past several seasons they completed highly acclaimed recordings for major international labelsincluding Naxos and Brilliant Classics. The world-renowned GRAMMY® Award-winning Emerson String Quartet, embarking on their farewell concert tour during their 47 th anniversary season, will perform Beethoven’s Quartet Op. No. 2 as well as other works by Haydn and Mendelssohn. The Emerson String Quartet is disbanding after more than four decades as one of the world’s premier chamber music ensembles. The Quartet has made more than 30 acclaimed recordings and has been honored with nine GRAMMY® Awards (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the Avery Fisher Prize, and Musical America’s “Ensemble of the Year” award. They have commissioned and premiered works from some of today’s most esteemed composers and have partnered in performance with leading soloists including Renée Fleming, Emanuel Ax, Mstislav Rostropovich, James Galway, Leon Fleisher, and Isaac Stern. Single tickets are on sale now at www.SCAsarasota.org and Mini-series subscribers who choose 3 concerts can save 10% off regular single ticket prices by calling the Sarasota Concert Association Box Office at 941-966-6161.

Pictured: Conductor Theodore Kuchar and the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine. Photo courtesy of the Sarasota Concert Association.