The worship service at Newton Highlands Congregational Church, UCC, on Sunday, June 8, 2025, will feature a prelude and postlude played by violinist Natasha Dukach, co-founder and CEO of See Forward Ukraine, Inc. (formerly Cash for Refugees), and pianist Tianhong Yang.
“I’m offering this music to thank your entire congregation for supporting Ukraine in its fight against terror,” said Ms. Dukach. “The music will reflect on the fact that ethnic minorities with rich culture and traditions are always the first target under imperial rule.”
The church hosted a fundraising concert in February 2024 that raised $4,500 for Cash for Refugees.
The musicians will play one movement from Karen Khachaturian’s Sonata for Violin and Piano and several Georgian dances from the ballet “Othello” by composer Alexi Machavariani.
“It doesn’t whisper, it demands,” said Ms. Dukach of the Khachaturian sonata. “The Georgian dances have a dramatic pulse syncopated with a twist of elegance, but with knives.”
Ms. Dukach graduated from the Kharkiv Conservatory as a violin soloist and chamber music artist. She later turned to the natural sciences, earning an advanced degree in population health and epidemiology, and she then worked as an epidemiologist.
Dr. Yang is an award-winning performer who tours globally, and she serves as adjunct faculty in piano at Plymouth State University.