In the Stacks: Music of Ukraine

Sam Bessen is the Eleanor and Lester Levy Family Curator of Sheet Music and Popular Culture at the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries, and artistic director of the In the Stacks Concert Series based at George Peabody Library. He is a key resource for those who study popular music history, the history of jazz and Broadway, and the history of racism in popular culture.

Sam holds a MM degree in Horn Performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music.

Denis Savelyev is a soloist, chamber and orchestral player. First-prize winner of the 2017 NYFC Competition, “Rising Star'' at the 2021 Galway Flute Festival, and National Flute Association Young Artist of 2019. From Lviv, Ukraine, Denis earned a BM at Gnesin Academy of Music in Moscow, MM at Mannes College and MM at The Orchestra Now, Bard College, New York. Currently he is pursuing DMA at the Peabody Conservatory under the mentorship of Marina Piccinini.

Polish pianist Radoslawa Jasik is the first prize winner of numerous competitions, including the Beijing Music Academy Competition, and the recipient of scholarships from Prime Minister of Poland, Mount Royal University (Canada) and Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts (France). She had her debut at Carnegie Hall in 2015 performing in duo with flutist Denis Savelyev. She returned to this prestigious hall as a soloist and with her duo multiple times in 2018, 2019 and 2022. She received a grant from the Polish Government in Warsaw to lead a series of workshops at Polish Schools in New York City in 2022 and 2023. Jasik earned her MM degree and Professional Studies Diploma degree from the Mannes School of Music, as the recipient of the Steinway Award for an outstanding performer. She earned a doctoral degree in Piano Performance from the Hartt School, University of Hartford.

Larisa Pastuchiv started playing the bandura as a child at the New York Bandura School and went on to study music theory and composition at Marlboro College in Vermont. She composes for bandura and performs professionally in the Washington, D.C. area at venues that include the Smithsonian, the Library of Congress, as well as at Ukrainian Folk Festivals, International Folk festivals, and events hosted by the Ukrainian Embassy.