2026-2027 Season Premiere—“Bigger and Bolder”
Sunday, October 4, 2026 | 3:30 pm
Federal Way Performing Arts & Events Center
Concert Information
Join the Federal Way Symphony at the Federal Way Performing Arts and Event Center to kick off our 2026-2027 season! Bookended by Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8, is the United States premiere of Larysa Kuzmenko’s Fantasy on a theme by Beethoven. The Toronto-based composer’s Fantasy is based on the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 and was commissioned and premiered by the Calgary Philharmonic.
The Music
Meet our Composer
THE MUSIC
MEET OUR COMPOSER
Larysa Kuzmenko
Larysa Kuzmenko discusses her composition of “Fantasy on a theme by Beethoven: https://youtu.be/YZqrv9QPuLc?t=55
Larysa Kuzmenko Larysa Kuzmenko is a Toronto-based composer, pianist and Juno nominee. She is currently on staff at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music, where she teaches piano, harmony, and composition. Her music has been commissioned, performed, broadcast and recorded by outstanding musicians all over the world. She has appeared as a pianist in several countries, and has performed at Carnegie Hall, St. Lawrence Centre, England, USA, Roy Thomson Hall, Massey Hall and several other Canadian venues.
Her works demonstrate a strong affinity towards the mainstream of classical music with a strong melodic sense, and a firm rooting in traditional processes. She has been awarded commissions from the Ontario Arts Council, CBC, Laidlaw foundation, and from private commissioners. Her solo piano works “In Memoriam to the Victims of Chernobyl” and “Mysterious Summer’s Night” have become standard repertoire for pianists. These pieces receive over a hundred performances a year. Her choral works “Winds” and “Stars” are performed regularly all over the world.
In 2011, Larysa received a Juno nomination for her “Piano Concerto” which was recorded on CD by well-known Ukrainian Canadian pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico.
Prominent ensembles and soloists who have performed her works include, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, directed by Peter Oundjian and Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra directed by Bramwell Tovey, Thunder Bay Orchestra directed by Jeoffrey Moule, Gryphon Trio, Composer’s Orchestra directed by Gary Kulesha, cellists Shauna Rolston, Kristine Bogyo, and Kaori Yamagami, pianists Anton Kuerti and Andrew Burashko, the Elmer Esler Singers, and the Elora Festival Singers.
Larysa Kuzmenko is married to Canadian composer/pianist/conductor Gary Kulesha.