FINE ARTS
I GOING PLACES I
THE SOUNDS
OF MUSIC
WEEK OF
DEC.11-DEC.14
JEWISH EVENTS
HIT AT NI
FOUNDATION
Hill Street Cinema, 1429
Hill St, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor,
After _Hours, 8 p.m. and 10
p.m. Dec. 14, admission,
769-0500.
SPECIAL EVENTS
GREENFIELD
VILLAGE
"Power in Motion,"
through Jamlary;"Fifty
Years of TV," through
Jan. 2, admission,
271-1620.
Pianist Vladislav Kovalsky
believes music is much more
than getting all the notes right.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Features Editor
M
aurice Ravel was
said to have been so
busy composing that
he failed to notice
the 3"-high pool of
water at his feet, the result of
a fierce storm that day.
Composer Alexander
Scriabin was so enamored
with the concertos of
Frederic Chopin that he
slept with sheet music of the
Polish pianist's compositions
under his pillow.
For Vladislav Kovalsky of
Southfield, music is also an
all-consuming passion. A
musician and teacher,
Kovalsky has known since
he was a boy that his life
would be dedicated to the
piano.
Today, Kovalsky works
part time at Wayne State
University and gives private
lessons in his home.
The son of a ballet dancer
and a professional musician,
Kovalsky was born in
Khabarovsk on the Soviet-
Chinese border. At 6, he
started playing the piano.
From those first notes, his
musical education was rigid,
complete and precise.
When he was 12, Kovalsky
and his family moved to
Siberia, where more educa-
tional opportunities existed
for the children. When not
studying, Kovalsky often sat
beside his father in the cello
section of the local sym-
phony, where the elder
Kovalsky played.
"I liked being there with
him more than I did playing
with my friends," Kovalsky
says.
Kovalsky's other loves
were chemistry and
astronomy, he says. "If not
for music, I suppose I would
just have looked at the stars
for the rest of my life."
Kovalsky continued his
piano studies at the Omsk
College of Music and the
Rimsky-Korsakov Len-
ingrad State Conservatory,
where his classes included
the histories of aesthetics,
ethics, art, music and the
Communist Party.
During his five years at
the Leningrad conservatory,
Kovalsky followed a set pro-
gram of courses that allowed
for no deviation.
"Every year had certain
programs and re-
quirements," he says. "And
Vladimir Kovalsky: To be generous is part of the real artist.'
COMEDY
you always knew where
you're going and what you
have to achieve."
Kovalsky, who met his
wife, a violinist, at the con-
servatory, for a time con-
sidered becoming a concert
performer. "But I soon real-
ized that to make a career
you have to be in the Party."
After he graduated in 1971,
Kovalsky decided to
emigrate.
Before he would be con-
sidered for an exit visa,
Kovalsky was required to
"repay the Soviet govern-
ment" for his education. So
he began giving private
piano lessons and played
concerts throughout the
country to earn the money.
In 1980, Kovalsky, his wife
and their son immigrated to
the United States. Their
first stop was New York.
With no relatives or close
friends in the United States,
Kovalsky and his wife were
forced to stumble alone
through the American way
of life. Kovalsky remembers
looking in the Yellow Pages
for listings under the
heading "conservatory." He
then went to all the ad-
dresses, finding a guitar
shop at one.
Nine months after arriv-
ing in New York, Kovalsky
secured his first position
with a conservatory in
Milwaukee. Next he came to
the University of Michigan,
where he was offered a
teaching position and the
opportunity to participate in
the doctoral program.
Kovalsky and his family
moved to the Detroit area in
1986 when he was offered a
position with Wayne State
University. When he has the
time, Kovalsky tours. He re-
MOUNTAIN JACKS
24275 Sinacola. Ct.,
Farmington Hills, The
Ron Coden Show, through
Dec. 31, free, 476-5333.
THEATER
ROSEDALE
COMMUNITY
PLAYERS
21728 Grand River Ave.,
Detroit, Androcles and
the Lion, admission,
through Dec. 10,
537-0362.
ATTIC THEATER
2990 W. Grand Blvd.,
Detroit, Sand Mountain,
through Dec. 23,
admission, 875-8285.
MARQUIS THEATER
135 E. Main, Northville,
Cinderella, through Dec.
30, admi.ssion, 349-8110.
PEANUT BUTTER
PLAYERS
New Center One
Building, The Atrium
(across from Fisher
Theater), Detroit,
Miracles, through Dec. 23,
admission, 559-6PBP.
SOMERSET
2801 W. Big Beaver, Troy,
Somerset Dinner Theater
at Sebastians, Fridays
and Saturdays, through
Dec. 31, admission,
643-6360.
WAYNE STAT E
UNIVERSITY
Detroit, Hilberry Theater,
The Winter's Tale,
through Feb. 17;
Bonstelle Theater,
Cinderella, Dec. 15-17,
admission, 577-2972.
FISHER THEATER
Continued on Page 88
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