Kimberly Wipfler Photo
Yaira Matyakubova and Lyala Stowe at gathering on Peck Street.
The room was hushed when Lyala Stowe began to speak. Her voice was soft. She is from Ukraine, and she was about to recite poems by Ukrainian poets.
Stowe apologized that most audience members would not comprehend the words, spoken in her native tongue. Regardless, the room held onto every syllable.
The Haven String Quartet.
Stowe recited a 19th century poem by Taras Shevchenko, whom Stowe called the national poet of Ukraine, written during his time in serfdom. Shevchenko, a champion of Ukrainian independence, was politically convicted and exiled from the country later in his life. The poem, Stowe said, was about the “beauty of nature,” and “greeting the dawn of the day.”
Stowe presented Shevchenko’s work at Music for Ukraine, a fundraising concert coordinated by Music Haven at their facility on Peck Street in Fair Haven on Thursday evening. There was rain and thunder outside, and the room was hot with spring humidity. Almost 100 people turned out to donate money and enjoy a classical music set featuring the works of Ukrainian composers.
Donations were collected for the United Ukrainian American Relief Committee and Misto-Dobra, a shelter for Ukrainian mothers and children in need. The shelter is asking for funds to construct a second building for the center, as the capacity for the first has been met, yet individuals continue to seek refuge there.
Stowe was born and raised in Ukraine, as was her oldest daughter, who had skipped out on a social event with friends to come watch her mom. Stowe first came to the U.S. as an exchange student in High School. She moved back and forth between the two countries several times after that, and ended up in Connecticut for graduate school.
In her remarks following the poetry recital on Peck Street, Stowe’s brows began to furrow, and the words seemed to come less easily.
When she left the stage, the audience erupted into applause, and as she made her way back to her seat, she collapsed into a man’s arms, weeping. When Stowe sat back down, next to her three children, she stared at them with urgency, brows still furrowed, tears in her eyes. Her son took her hand.
Wendy Clinard (left) and Yaira Matyakubova.
The Haven String Quartet — Yaira Matyakubova on violin, Gregory Tompkins on violin, Annalisa Boerner on viola, and Philip Boulanger on cello — were among the performers. Wendy Clinard performed an interpretive flamenco dance to a violin piece. Grammy-nominated Lithuanian pianist-composer Andrius Žlabys accompanied the quartet on piano.
Matyakubova, the artistic director of Music Haven and primary organizer of the event, said the fundraiser was put together in just a little over a week.
Audience members on Thursday.
Andrius Žlabys.
Yaira Matyakubova.
Watch a clip of Clinard perform a dance to Matyakubova's performance of "Tientos por Bach."
Featured Ukrainian composers included Alexander Levkovich, who studied music in Lviv and Myroslav Skoryk, who held the title of “People’s Artist of Ukraine.” One piece was composed in honor of war victims by Žlabys himself, “Movement for a String Quartet and Piano.” The pianist also shared the story of one composer, Victoria Poleva, who had been writing classical music as the war waged outside her in Ukraine four years ago.
“It’s always in the best spot of composing that you have to go to the basement,” he said. Poleva, worrying that the work she crafted may have been destroyed, sent backup copies to Žlabys. It was that decision that allowed Žlabys to view the works and perform one, Poleva Chaconne, at Thursday’s event.
Stowe’s son sat alone during the concert, his attention acute. His two older sisters sat in the back, exhibiting a dynamic only sisters can, one of familial solidarity in an unfamiliar place.
Stowe's three children in attendance.
When the concert concluded, I asked Stowe about the rest of her family.
She said they evacuated Ukraine and are scattered throughout several different countries now. They’re “fortunate to have survived,” she said. But now she is arguing with her mother, who wants to return to Ukraine, despite warnings from the mayor, the governor, and her daughter.
“So, right now, there are two things. We’re fighting for freedom and democracy, which is important everywhere in the world. And the beauty of the world that is. What we’re doing here, right, matters. Matters. It’s not about what amount of money we raise. It’s not about that. It’s so beautiful,” she said.
Audience members ranged from 2 to 92 years old. Some were couples, some were families, some closed their eyes, some wept. The set included music by Ukrainian composers, with anecdotes from when or how each piece was written. Several pieces had been written by or dedicated to victims of the war in Ukraine between 2014 and 2015: dynamic and emotional melodies that spur new meaning in light of the 2022 Russian invasion into the country.
Matyakubova and Stowe.
Listen to a clip of Žlabys's "Movement for a String Quartet and Piano" above.
Someone interrupted the conversation to thank Stowe for her poetry and make sure she was all right; they had seen her crying.
“People caring and people putting this energy out into the universe matters, right?” Stowe continued. “It’s not just money. It’s not just oil. It’s not just politics. I so appreciate Yaira putting this together and what little part I get to play. I … I do believe that matters. Do you?”
The performers receive a standing ovation at the conclusion of the set.
Watch Stowe recite the poem above.
The poem was about “meeting the dawn of the day,” and “the beauty of nature,” Stowe shared with the audience. She wore a long black dress and light pink scarf, her blonde hair falling freely at her shoulders. She was both timid and resolved.
“I believe there is this pure evil that is happening, and we have to do something against it,” Stowe said before leaving the stage.
It was not until Stowe finished her poem that I realized the four were a family. After regaining her composure, she joined her children along seats against the wall. The comfort they provided her was evident; she stared at them even when they didn’t look back. She rubbed their shoulders and her tears subsided.