The expressive vitality in this collection of violin sonatas transcends the cultural upheavals from which these three Ukrainian composers emerged. Bortkiewicz’s Violin Sonata in G minor is among the most impressive of his relatively few chamber works, finding his musical language at its most vivid and directly communicative. Kosenko’s Violin Sonata in A minor is notable for the satisfying balance of its two subtly differentiated movements. Skoryk’s Second Violin Sonata is a stylistically diverse chamber work, with pointed allusions to Beethoven, Prokofiev and Gershwin during its compact and always eventful course.

Ukrainian born violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv is a highly celebrated soloist, chamber musician and educator. She has made solo appearances with numerous internationally acclaimed orchestras, and has performed at chamber music festivals worldwide. This is her Naxos debut, but her previous recordings have been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and have placed in the top charts on iTunes and Spotify.

A graduate of The Juilliard School, pianist Steven Beck’s annual Christmas Eve performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at Bargemusic has become a New York institution. As an orchestral musician he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. He is a Steinway Artist, and is on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.