Name: Music for a Cause - 10 Years of Saving Lives in Ukraine
Start: 2024-12-13T19:00:00-08:00
Location: Community Music Center

Music for a Cause - 10 Years of Saving Lives in Ukraine

An evening of live jazz with the Tsvietinskyi-Chupakhin Quartet to mark 10 years of Leleka Foundation's work. By the Warm Up Ukraine team.
Leleka Foundation's mission began in 2014, at the start of russia's war against Ukraine: we decided to do all we could to help save the lives of wounded Ukrainian defenders by supplying first aid supplies. Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, we’ve focused on directly supporting Ukraine’s heroic field medics. We provide them with essential tools they need to save and evacuate their wounded comrades: first-aid supplies, medical backpacks, evacuation vehicles, stretchers, and more. This work is made possible by the support of thousands of people and organizations.
The war is still raging, the demand for our work is as high as ever, and we are committed to continuing for as long as it takes. While there is little cause for celebration, we are marking 10 years of our work and thanking our supporters and partners with an evening of live improvised music in San Francisco.

A Night of Ukrainian Jazz
The Tsvietinskyi-Chupakhin Quartet
Yakiv Tsvietinskyi - trumpet
Fima Chupakhin - piano
Giulio Xavier Cetto - bass
Malachi Whitson - drums
The event will feature a concert by two young luminaries of Ukrainian jazz performing a program of originals and interpretations of Ukrainian songs.
The trumpeter, composer, bandleader, and teacher Yakiv Tsvietinskyi, a current member of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance, will be playing in San Francisco for the first time. Yakiv's roots are in classical music, Ukrainian folk, and jazz. Highly respected in the Ukrainian jazz scene as a performer and teacher, Yakiv has reformed and led the jazz program at the Conservatory in his native Dnipro.
Fima Chupakhin is a New York City-based Ukrainian jazz pianist, multimedia composer, and music producer. Fima's work spans jazz, R&B, hip-hop, film soundtracks, and more. He plays frequently and widely with numerous bands on the EastCoast, but his appearances in California are rare treats. His trio set at our Warm Up Ukraine festival in October 2023 was the highlight of the event. On February 29, 2024, Fima premiered The Song of Tomorrow, a solo piano piece commissioned by the University of Pennsylvania and dedicated to the resilience and bravery of the Ukrainian people in their fight against the russian invasion.
Both Yakiv and Fima have been deeply engaged in supporting Ukraine during the war: raising money, playing events, recording, and promoting other Ukrainian musicians. We at Leleka are proud to call them friends. We treasure the chance to showcase their music and the vitality, originality, and resilience of Ukrainian jazz for the San Francisco audience.