ABOUT THE DETROIT SESSIONS
"The only problem I find is that there is a whole generation that has been regimented to a kind of language where what you refer to as classical music, I would like to call music, simply."
— Bruno Monsaingeon
MISSION | VISION | VALUES
The Detroit Sessions is a nonprofit organization dedicated to classical music. In our time of growing planetary crisis, we believe that arts and culture are vital ingredients of a better future for humanity. Our mission, to strengthen and build a new culture for classical music, is rooted in a fresh approach to presentation, asking both artists and audiences to critically engage with the past by reexamining and rethinking classical music at all levels. Using Detroit as an outstanding laboratory for experimentation, our programs strive to achieve a transformation by identifying themes that are capable of nourishing dialogue between disparate communities. Through the inventive analysis of both past and present we reach outward to other disciplines, encouraging artistic collaboration and renewing the idea that classical music is an open domain of music interdependent on the entire sphere of the humanities. Our vision is to cultivate a future where classical music is equally accessible to a wide audience and is a principal actor in cultural projects beyond the concert platform.
HISTORY
The Detroit Sessions was founded in 2017 following a series of underground performances, recordings, and collaborations between artists, community stakeholders, and organizations including Shakespeare in Detroit, Detroit Opera, Jam Handy Studios, ArtLab J, Detroit Institute of Arts and Detroit Film Theatre. Among the results of these early efforts was a critically-acclaimed album of compositions of American-Italian composer David DiChiera published on the Innova label, a newly-commissioned dance choreography of Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit premiered as part of the Detroit Dance City Festival, a dedicated music room for students of Downtown Boxing Gym, and a centenary celebration of the life work of Yehudi Menuhin at the Detroit Institute of Arts, featuring violinist and filmmaker Bruno Monsaingeon and the Ukrainian cellist Aleksey Shadrin. The unconventional mix of creatives, artists, and environments in Detroit further drove the establishment of the Detroit Sessions as a nonprofit organization solving the problem of accessibility for classical music through the intersection of artistic disciplines, nontraditional spaces, and event technology.
OUTREACH
Our commitment to culture includes empowering the next generation through mentorship opportunities and strategic partnerships that focus on education. Our programs have provided students with exclusive time to work alongside our guest artists and scholars, as well as access to our production process. In addition, we have hosted dedicated events for the young professional community of Detroit, building connections between artists and young audiences outside of the concert hall.
LEADERSHIP
Detroit Sessions Founder and Executive Director Ivan Moshchuk grew up in the metro Detroit area, where he began music studies and made his concerto debut at age 11 alongside the Grosse Pointe Symphony. Following his reception of a Gilmore Young Artist Award in 2010, his career as a concert pianist has taken him to major cities across Europe, North and South America, and Asia. Ivan holds performance diplomas from the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, completing studies in the class of Leon Fleisher, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, training under Benedetto Lupo, in addition to being an alumni of the Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris.
“Detroit Sessions is a synthesis of all I have seen, love, and miss. In our time of mass consumerism and hyper expedience, we need to preserve the fragility of true artistic expression and cultivate audiences who seek more than just entertainment. What is art if not a yearning for the ideal, for our ability to transcend together, if only for a moment, to a higher sense of our shared humanity? To allow this thought to resonate with future generations, we need new forms of presentation. Let us fuel this desire and stretch the corners of our souls.”
- Ivan Moshchuk
GOVERNING BOARD
Ivan Moshchuk
Founder and Executive Director, Detroit Sessions
Lorron James
CEO, James Group International
Scott Schoeneberger
Managing Partner, Bluewater Technologies
ADVISORY BOARD
Gretchen Gonzales Davidson*
RJ King
William Kupsky, M.D.*
Michael Layne*
Ali Moiin, M.D.*
*Founding Board Member
