Irena Portenko, piano
A program which travels across continents and centuries through music and image. The program opens with Sibelius’ Finlandia, a piece born from Finland’s struggle for identity, before turning to Gennady Sasko’s Echoing the Centuries — a musical portrait of old Kyiv in three movements. The program closes with Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue, capturing the restless energy of early 20th-century America. Each piece will be paired with photographs, inviting the audience to see as well as hear the journey unfold.
Finlandia, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Echoing the centuries, Gennady Sasko (b. 1946)
I. Dancing Bolonia
II. Sofia
III. Marketplace.
Rhapsody in Blue, George Gershwin (1898-1937)
This concert is made possible, in part, by a generous gift from Victor Goldsmith and Cynthia Ahn.
Named to a “select circle” of pianists by The New York Times, Irena Portenko, DMA is a sought-after concert pianist, music educator and mentor. Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dr. Portenko first displayed a talent for the piano at age three, making her debut performing Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D Major with the Ukrainian National Orchestra at the age of eight. Her career as a soloist has included a distinguished array of performances under the batons of Grammy-nominated Kenneth Kiesler (USA), Volodymyr Kozhuhar (Ukraine), Rossen Milanov (Bulgaria-USA), Volodymyr Sirenko (Ukraine), Uwe Harrer (Austria), Allin Vlasenko (Ukraine), and Dai Uk Lee (South Korea). In addition to her concert work, Dr. Portenko is an avid chamber musician, and has performed with a diverse range of musicians at festivals and in recital around the world. Since December 2024, Portenko is a soloist of the contemporary ensemble Reflètes de Silence, which debuted on the stage of Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall to share the beauty and uniqueness of music by today’s women composers. Dr. Irena Portenko’s published CDs — Chopin Complete Etudes, Versus with Tchaikovsky’s First and Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerti, Music of Michigan Composers: 200th Year Anniversary of the University of Michigan, and Twenty Five Preludes and Fugues by Israel Kremen — have received the highest acclaim from critics and publications.
Dr. Portenko is the Founding Executive and Artistic Director of Herbst Klassik “Auf den Spuren von Schubert”, an annual festival embracing the music of Schubert through performances and lectures on the composer’s life and work. Music in the Alps, another festival directed by Portenko and held annually in Austria’s Gastein Valley, promotes cross-cultural dialogue and innovation in classical music performance. In this role, she oversees all strategic, educational, operational, and artistic dimensions of the festivals, including the Concerto Aria Competition. Since its founding in 2013, the festival has grown from a modest gathering into a burgeoning summer program hosting a large number of participants and guests.
Dr. Portenko’s tenure at Sacred Heart University was marked by a genuine commitment to transforming how students experience and understand music. She reimagined the curriculum from the ground up — deepening class content, crafting more meaningful assignments and projects, and creating a classroom culture grounded in collaboration and peer learning. Beyond the classroom, she brought music to life through student-led Podcasts and her beloved “Musical Mondays” series, inviting talented guest artists to inspire and connect with her students in an intimate, dynamic setting.
Since the start of the war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Dr. Portenko has raised more than $200,000 by organizing and performing in benefit concerts and launching a GoFundMe campaign to assist displaced Ukrainian musicians and support families with children as they rebuild their lives after fleeing the war. Among Dr. Portenko’s most cherished endeavors is her role as a co-founder of Unbreakable Harmony — a historic cultural mission bringing the Kyiv Chamber Girls’ Choir from wartime Ukraine to Carnegie Hall on November 6, 2026. These extraordinary young women carry Ukraine’s voice, resilience, and hope to the world’s greatest stage, transforming grief into beauty and courage into song. To be part of this story and support their journey, visit their gofundme.
Dr. Portenko has served as piano faculty at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, at The Music Conservatory of Westchester, Taconic Opera productions, and at the Scarsdale School District in New York, accompanying, teaching music history and theory, and providing piano instruction. She received her bachelor’s degree from the Kyiv National Academy of Music, followed by her post-graduate degree from the Ukrainian National Academy of Music, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in music and piano performance from the University of Michigan School of Music.