Behind The News
Music helps to cross the cultural divides between two countries
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| musical exchange: Richard and Elizabeth Kenwood-Herriott |
When musician Elizabeth Kenwood-Herriott received a letter out of the blue from the Ukraine, she could hardly have imagined the chain of events it would lead to.
The simple missive describing a lack of instruments and musical supplies also reached out the hand of friendship.
And it was to lead to a special relationship between Lviv, in the Ukraine, and people in Horsforth, with musicians from the two places exchanging visits and performances.
Now, six years on, the relationship is stronger than ever with more exchange visits planned over the coming years.
Oboist Elizabeth Kenwood-Herriott and her pianist husband Richard are both talented musicians from musical families and have forged successful careers playing professionally.
Richard, 44, who was born in Singapore but grew up in Canada, made his radio debut playing piano at the age of 12.
Elizabeth's grandmother was a talented pianist who was taught by a former pupil of Franz Liszt. Elizabeth herself, now 43, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she became one of only two people ever to have won the prestigious oboe prize in her first year.
The husband and wife, who perform together as the Kenwood-Herriott Duo, had toured abroad, but they knew little about the former Eastern Bloc countries and had never even considered visiting any of them.
That was to change in 2002 with the arrival of a letter completely out of the blue from Myron Zakopets, Professor of Oboe at the Lviv Music Academy.
Elizabeth said: "The letter told of the plight of young Ukrainian musicians who were struggling to continue their studies because of the lack of instruments and essential supplies and music.
"The letter expressed deep longing for contact with the West and for Western musicians to visit and help young Ukrainian musicians.
"The reasons for shortages and difficulties in the Ukraine was the collapse in the economy, the shutdown of industry and the poverty which prevented the purchasing of supplies from abroad.
"The letter cited as a major problem the lack of funds to be able to engage international performers and teachers from the West."
Determined to help, Elizabeth sent off an oboe, and cane and tools to make oboe reeds. Her gifts led to a correspondence which has now lasted a number of years, and the Kenwood-Herriott Duo has visited the Ukraine twice to perform concerts and to give masterclasses for music students.
The couple were delighted by the warmth of the welcome they received and by the dedication and skill of the students they met.
Elizabeth said: "I had the thrill of a lifetime when I performed the Strauss Oboe Concerto with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra in the final concert of the XXIII International Music Festival, entitled Virtuoses.' Indeed, the whole orchestra was composed of dedicated virtuoso musicians, such is the rigorous training of the Soviet-styled musical training.
"The Kenwood-Herriott Duo has also visited Minsk, capital of Belarus, to perform concerts and teach the students of the Minsk Music Academy. We were very deeply impressed by the virtuosic talent and dedication of these students, to whom music means so much."
Richard was also struck by the skill and enthusiasm of the students.
He said: "The music education there is absolutely extraordinary. The Ukraine produces certainly some of the best pianists in the world. We were both absolutely astonished at the standard. We both gave some masterclasses when we were out there and I was playing with pianists who played better than I did.
"It was great fun. They were great to work with and they were interested as well."
The Kenwood-Herriotts were over-whelmed by the welcome they received from their Ukrainian friends, who had been hungered for contact with the West during the days of the old Soviet Union.
Massive changes in the Eastern bloc meant they were finally able to begin realising their dreams.
Elizabeth said: "Freedoms previously only dreamed of suddenly became reality; freedom to make contact with the citizens of the West, to travel freely, to express openly religious belief, to speak their own languages rather than Russian, and freely express their own national culture.
"These freedoms, which we in the West complacently take for granted, are so new and wonderful for the peoples of Eastern Europe, who for so long were repressed, suppressed and in constant fear.
"We in the West cannot even begin to imagine what this must mean."
Richard said he and his wife were treated like royalty during their visits and had been told how difficult it had been previously for Ukrainians to make contact with the West. Prof Zakopets had managed to make contact with the West even before the Iron Curtain had come down, but it was contact which was fraught with risks.
"He said if he had had two English people at his table 15 years ago he would have been arrested."
Indeed, the Professor had been interviewed and threatened by the authorities for his repeated attempts to contact the West.
"For the Professor, the visits he now receives from Western visitors really are an impossible dream come true," Elizabeth said.
Richard and Elizabeth are now planning to go back to perform in the Ukraine and are hoping to invite a couple of the pianists to come to Leeds in 2009.
People in Horsforth, Otley and Bradford have already had their own chance to get to know some of the Ukranian musicians during a visit by the grandson of Prof Zakopets last year.
Fourteen-year-old Mykhaylo Zakopets, who is training to become a professional oboist, performed in Yorkshire with his mother Ludmylla, a professor of piano at the Lviv Specialist Music School.
The mother and son were a big hit in West Yorkshire and gained a lot from their visit.
"They loved it, they had a terrific time," Richard said. "Mykhaylo was quite entranced by the architecture and they thought the countryside was amazing."
Richard and Elizabeth firmly believe the friendships are mutually beneficial.
"Obviously it is great to establish these kind of links and to have the opportunity to go out there and see such a marvellous country," said Richard.
"It is very important to make friends with these countries that have been cut off. These people haven't been allowed to think for themselves and now they are in a situation where they can think for themselves. There is so much to be gained from the way they do things, and likewise."
3:06pm Thursday 7th February 2008
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