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The Matthews Opera House & Arts Center is excited to present “Gerdan – Kaleidoscope of World Music” on Tuesday evening, April 18 at 7 pm.
Gerdan – Kaleidoscope of World Music is a professional music ensemble based in Washington DC metropolitan area. Founded by Ukrainian professional duo Solomia Gorokhivska and Andrei Pidkivka, musicians of Gerdan bring the fire and the edge of melodic ideas and rhythms that capture the listener.
The ensemble is named after Gerdan, a multi-colored, intricately woven beaded necklace from Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine. Like this dazzling and exquisite necklace of different colors and shapes, musicians create original arrangements of traditional Ukrainian folk melodies and rhythms that reflect their passion for blending the old with the new, in a style that is fresh, lively, and beautiful. The exclusive collection of the Ukrainian authentic flutes in combination with other traditional and modern instruments create unforgettable musical experience. Gerdan’s musicians have been acknowledged for their technique and exquisite musical presentations performing an exciting Eastern European music repertoire. They reveal their passion for traditional music in their artistic expression to build cultural bridges in time and distance.
Gerdan ensemble performs and conducts educational outreach programs in public and private schools in Maryland, Virginia and DC for the K-12 grade students. Gerdan presented at the Library of Congress, the American Folklife Center, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Museum of African American History, McDaniel College, Salisbury University, Georgetown University, Wayne State University, Ukrainian, Czech, Slovak and Russian Embassies, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, etc. The group works with different embassies and international organizations, the National Symphony Orchestra, and other artistic entities to produce outreach programs for the diverse communities in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.