The New York Times: “Politics Is Personal, and Professional”

The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States the New York Times profiles Lisa Batiashvili, a Georgian violinist who is this season's artist in residence with the New York Philharmonic.

She is bold with her music and her political views toward current development in Ukraine. "Culture has a lot of power,” she said during her recent interview in New York.

Liza Batiashvili tested that power last September, when she was invited to perform with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra led by Valery Gergiev, who has close ties to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, and had signed a letter endorsing his country’s annexation of Crimea.

Batiashvili agreed to play in the concert but prepared a gesture of protest that was characteristically elegant. She commissioned an encore for solo violin from a Georgian composer, Igor Loboda, titled "Requiem for Ukraine,” which she performed after her concerto — as Gergiev stood in the wings,” the New York Times noted.

Read the full article on: www.nytimes.com