Dr. Taras Filenko is newly returned from Ukraine and the surrounding region, where Ukrainian refugees have sought shelter from the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022. Come hear an in-person eyewitness account from someone with a lifelong network of family, friends, and colleagues, many who are displaced from their homes to locations inside Ukraine and abroad.
What hope is there for victory? Is US support waning? What kinds of help are most valuable at this moment? What is the life of students during war?
Taras Filenko is an ethnomusicologist, lecturer, and concert pianist with doctoral degrees from Kyiv’s Academy of Music and the University of Pittsburgh’s Music Department. He has presented his work internationally in Austria, Canada, Belgium, France, Russia, the Baltic states, and Ukraine. Based on recently discovered materials, much of his research concerns forgotten and prohibited composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Since last year’s full scale invasion, Dr Filenko has volunteered his talent and expertise for numerous events to educate about Ukrainian culture and raise funds for humanitarian support.