Vira & Friends presents Pleasant Ache: a concert/cabaret.

Contralto Vira Slywotzky and pianist David Sytkowski are joined by guest coloratura soprano Brooke Schooley for a delightful program of classical and popular song.

Questions? Email hello@viraandfriends.org.

About the artists…
Vira Slywotzky has performed principal roles with Seattle Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Chelsea Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, Sarasota Opera, Boston Midsummer Opera and Victor Herbert Renaissance Project – LIVE! She has sung concerts, recitals and cabarets in New York City venues from The Duplex to Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall and on tour all over the United States. Internationally Slywotzky has been heard in Canada, France, Hungary, Sweden and Wales.

A champion of new music, she has workshopped and premiered more than 30 works including songs, full scale opera and narration with orchestra.

Slywotzky has always been committed to keeping Ukrainian song alive and thriving; since February 2022 she has been serving as a cultural ambassador and fundraising for organizations providing aid to Ukraine. Slywotzky’s performances have served to collect over $250,000 to help soldiers and civilians in her ancestral homeland in their fierce fight to survive the ongoing attacks from the east and to ensure a peaceful and democratic future for Ukraine.

Participant in numerous competitions and winner of awards, most significantly Slywotzky was the sole representative of the USA at the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Since a year before its 2016 inaugural season, Slywotzky has served on the Board of the Berkshire Opera Festival, for a time as President. www.viraslywotzky.com

“Vira Slywotzky is an immensely talented, charismatic performer who transforms herself, and captivates her audience with her songs and tales.” – The Village View

David Sytkowski is a Visiting Artist in Residence at Bard College and the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he is Director of Music for Opera Workshop, leads the Musical Theatre Performance Workshop, coaches singers and teaches private piano.

VOWEL MOVEMENTS, a subversive classical/cabaret/drag collaboration with Pretty Lamé, with support of the New York State Council on the Arts, premiered at Hudson Hall in June 2023 and was remounted for ICA Miami in February 2024.

Brooke Schooley has been singing professionally for 15 years, mostly in classical venues in the Northeast. She regularly performs leading coloratura roles with regional opera companies and has appeared with Bronx Opera, Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre, Light Opera of New York, Empire Opera, Delaware Valley Opera and The Martina Arroyo Foundation. She has performed the following roles:Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor), Blonde (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Angelina (Trial by Jury), Monica (The Medium), Lucy (The Telephone), Miss Pinkerton (The Old Maid and the Thief) and Mabel (The Pirates of Penzance).