This episode is brought to you by the Alexander & Buono Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping promising classical musicians launch and sustain their careers while cultivating new audiences for classical music.
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Pianists Anna and Dmitri Shelest of the Shelest Piano Duo join Maestro Michael Hall, Artistic Director of the Brandywine Valley Symphony, for a conversation about music, collaboration, and the upcoming U.S. premiere of Ukrainian composer Oleh Bezborodko’s Steel, Violet, Rage.
On October 18, the Shelest Piano Duo will perform with the Brandywine Valley Symphony Chamber Orchestra at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. The concert opens Razom for Ukraine’s fourth annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival, taking place across New York City from October 18 through November 6.
The program also features Valentyn Silvestrov’s The Messenger, Philip Glass’s Tirol Concerto, and Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.
In this episode, Anna, Dmitri, and Maestro Hall discuss the ideas connecting these works, the unusual demands of performing a concerto for piano four hands and orchestra, and what music can preserve and communicate during a time of war.
This episode is presented with the support of the Alexander & Buono Foundation.
CONCERT INFORMATION
Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 1:00 p.m.
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall
🎟️ Get Your Tickets
PERFORMANCE EXCERPTS
• Leonard Bernstein: Overture to Candide, arranged for piano four hands by Charlie Harmon — Anna and Dmitri Shelest
• Valentyn Silvestrov: The Messenger, piano solo version — Anna Shelest
• Oleh Bezborodko: “Steel” from Steel, Violet, Rage — Anna and Dmitri Shelest
• Philip Glass: Truman Sleeps from The Truman Show — Anna Shelest
Please note: Truman Sleeps is included as an additional performance excerpt and is not part of the October 18 concert program.
LEARN MORE
🎹 Anna Shelest and the Shelest Piano Duo: HERE
🎻 Brandywine Valley Symphony: HERE
🇺🇦 Ukrainian Cultural Festival 2026: HERE
🇺🇦 Razom for Ukraine: HERE
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