The 162nd concert season of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine will open with an event already considered historic: following the first open competition in its modern history, the position of chief conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra has been awarded to American maestro of Ukrainian descent, Theodore Kuchar. The conductor signed a four-year contract with an option for extension and will make his debut on August 9 with a program that includes Zaporozhtsi by Reinhold Glière, the Second Symphony by Yevhen Stankovych, and Ludwig van Beethoven’s legendary Third Symphony, Eroica. Throughout August, audiences can also expect chamber evenings, Baroque programs, children’s events, improvisational performances, and a final concert titled American Vibe, featuring American classical and jazz music.
Theodore Kuchar was born on May 31, 1963, in New York City to a family of Ukrainian immigrants. His mother, educator Hanna Prydatkevych, raised her son in Ukrainian, while his grandfather, violinist and composer Roman Prydatkevych, founded the Ukrainian Conservatory in New York. Music and national culture were an integral part of his everyday life. He began playing the violin at the age of ten, later switched to viola, and by the age of nineteen had graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He quickly launched a successful career that combined performance and conducting.
His artistic path is remarkable in its geographic scope, ranging from his tenure as the youngest music director in the history of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra in Australia to contracts with the Fresno Philharmonic, Reno Chamber Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, and the Slovak Sinfonietta. His closest and most enduring ties have been with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine: between 1994 and 2004, he conducted over 300 concerts with the ensemble in Kyiv and on four continents and was awarded the title of "Laureate Conductor for Life."
Maestro Kuchar appears on more than 130 compact discs released by the labels Naxos, Brilliant Classics, Ondine, and Marco Polo and is regarded as the most recorded conductor of his generation. Under his baton, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine became the most frequently recorded ensemble in the post-Soviet space, releasing complete cycles of symphonies by Vasily Kalinnikov, Borys Lyatoshynsky, Sergei Prokofiev, and Yevhen Stankovych. Recordings of Ukrainian repertoire under his direction have received accolades from the BBC, ABC, and Gramophone. Lyatoshynsky’s symphonies were named “Recording of the Year” in Australia, while works by Stankovych were recommended by leading global music critics.
Kuchar has been a steadfast advocate of Ukrainian music on the international stage. During concert tours, he introduced symphonies by Stankovych, Myroslav Skoryk, and Mykhailo Skorulsky to audiences in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong for the first time. In the upcoming Kyiv season, the conductor plans to launch a residency program for young composers, conduct masterclasses for apprentice conductors, and introduce listeners to a series of Ukrainian premieres, among them possibly the handwritten First Symphony by his grandfather, Roman Prydatkevych, which the maestro personally digitized in recent years.
Across the ocean, his name is immortalized in the Theodore Kuchar Scholarship for Excellence in Music, established by the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. In Europe, he earned the nickname “Mr. One-Take” after conducting Josef Suk’s complex Asrael Symphony without rehearsal and receiving critical acclaim. The maestro remains an active violist, having recorded chamber works by Alfred Schnittke, Bohuslav Martinů, and Walter Piston, with his own participation. In New York, he performed the premiere of Krzysztof Penderecki’s String Trio alongside Oleh Krysa and Oleksandr Ivashkin.
Kuchar’s appointment has been welcomed by the cultural community as a symbolic homecoming: a conductor who brought global acclaim to Ukrainian symphonic music will now work again in the capital of a country currently defending its culture and sovereignty. The maestro himself describes the role as “a duty to his spiritual roots” and emphasizes his intention to make Kyiv’s orchestra one of the most prominent in Europe. With his international experience, uncompromising perfectionism, and deep passion for Ukrainian music, the upcoming season promises not only to delight music lovers but also to serve as a meaningful step in the integration of Ukrainian symphonic art into the global cultural landscape.
Author: Diana Khudko