Partners is a new suite of music for septet composed by Michael Owcharuk (piano), featuring Kate Olson (saxophones), Alex Guy (violin), Heather Bentley (viola), Maria Scherer Wilson (violoncello), Abbey Blackwell (bass), and Kyle Doran (drums). The piece explores different aspects of partnership: a spouse, friend, parent, child, co-worker, fellow commuter, shopkeeper, all the great and small partnerships we form short- and long-term through our lives. The music is based on themes from Ukrainian folk, tango, Berber folk, and Americana, and are treated in combined classical and jazz forms to highlight individual musician’s expression on the topic through improvisation and orchestration.
Composition and performance of this project is funded largely by an award from the Seattle Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture’s City Artist Grant.
Michael Owcharuk is a composer, pianist, and dance accompanist working in jazz, classical, Ukrainian folk, rock/pop, and music for theater and dance. He has create pieces for many local and regional ensembles, theater companies, dance companies, and is an accompanist for the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and Mark Morris’ Dance for Parkinsons. He and his music have been featured by NPR and KEXP and he has been granted multiple awards from The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, 4Culture, and Jack Straw Productions. Michael is proud to have written and to keep writing for the Lviv Virtuoso Orchestra in Ukraine, a stalwart and brave group of musicians defiantly presenting music for their people during the ongoing war.