New York, NY and Odessa, Ukraine -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/14/2009 -- From May 5 through May 29, Apogee Awards laureates representing five leading music academies in four countries will be participating in Apogee Artists concert events and Apogee Academy training events held in collaboration with the historic Stolyarsky State Music School. Featured in these events are multi-instrument prodigy Simion Gronic from Kishinev, Moldova; violinist Yuri Wassilewski from Minsk, Belarus; pianist Akim Anum-Dorhuso from Odessa, Ukraine; trumpeter Bogdan Dekhtyaruk from Uman, Ukraine; and cellist Aleksander Lisuk from Bern, Switzerland: all of whom were originally selected as Apogee Scholars during the Foundation's 2006 Odessa International Music Festival.

Apogee's events in Odessa are being presented on national television in Ukraine, and will also be made available to global audiences through Apogee Videocasting and in a documentary film being produced in collaboration with Aurience Media.

Apogee Awards laureate Bogdan Dekhtyaruk said, "Apogee's support from my earliest years of study, and the professional musical instrument that the Foundation provided for me, have transformed my life and my career. Being part of the global Apogee family has given me the opportunity to be seen and heard all over the world and to realize possibilities that I would never otherwise have dreamed of."

Youri Kuznetsov, an internationally acclaimed jazz pianist, composer and educator previously serving as Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism for the Odessa Province, and now serving as Apogee's Regional Coordinator for Odessa and as a member of the Foundation's global Advisory Council, said: "Odessa is proud to continue our tradition of hosting The Apogee Foundation's phenomenally successful programs, which continue to enrich our region's legendary artistic traditions and to write new chapters in its extraordinary musical history."

In addition to this Apogee Artists command performance series featuring established Apogee Awards laureates, the Foundation has also been conducting auditions for new Apogee Awards applicants while holding Apogee Academy master classes conducted by world class educators such as the renowned violin pedagogue Semion Yaroshevich, who also serves as the Foundation's Regional Coordinator in Tel Aviv, and Ukraine's leading trumpet instructor Igor M. Baruch.

The Apogee Foundation is an international nonprofit dedicated to discovering, developing and celebrating human excellence in the performance arts. Apogee's global programs operate in three synergistic divisions: Apogee Awards, discovering artistic excellence; Apogee Academy, developing artistic excellence; and Apogee Artists, celebrating artistic excellence.

Apogee Awards laureates are selected by an expert jury through a rigorous audition and review process. Successful candidates receive a broad spectrum of support, including the opportunity to participate in Apogee Academy international training programs and Apogee Artists performance events and media productions worldwide.

To view the live, online version of this article, visit: http://apogeefoundation.org/media/2009/apogee_artists_odessa_concerts.php

About The Apogee Foundation ®
The term "apogee" means "the highest point, the culmination." The Apogee Foundation believes in the power of the performing arts to embody and inspire the pursuit of human excellence. By virtue of its innovative approach to implementing this vision, the Foundation has become an internationally recognized platform for the promotion of humanity’s greatest vision of itself.

Contact
Kenneth Schneider, President
The Apogee Foundation
1001 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Floor
New York, NY 10018-5460 (USA)
+1.646.224.6960 or +1.888.APOGEE.8
http://www.ApogeeFoundation.org