A Richmond pianist is hosting a fundraiser concert to help refugees pursue an education in fine arts.
As a Ukrainian refugee himself, Sasha Luchkov is raising funds through a classical piano concert titled "Concert for Peace" on April 12 at UBC in collaboration with Vancouver student-led non-profit Thrive Refuge.
Community members can expect piano performances from Luchkov, Ray Zhang, Steinway artist and founder of Thrive Refuge, and Ryan Hong, youth artist with Thrive Refuge.
The 19-year-old, while staying with a Richmond sponsor family, escaped the Russo-Ukrainian war just before his 18th birthday to pursue his passion and career as a pianist.
"Music makes my life what it is right now. It made me (travel) all the way from Ukraine, which was a hard decision because I had to leave my family and my home," said Luchkov.
"What's important right now is to involve art in social projects. Especially nowadays, when many artists need support to escape some political conditions like wars that are going on."
He added that because of these political conditions, it becomes difficult for artists to find help to pursue proper music and art education.
When asked what music meant to him, Luchkov described it as a way of "making peace."
It is the idea of being able to "bring people closer together," he explained.
"The idea of art as a means of making peace, bringing people closer together, and having no constraints to who might listen to this music or it's open for everybody," he said.
As a first-year UBC music student, Luchkov wants to be able to provide support and optimism to others in similar situations.
"I want others to know that they just (have to) be brave, be ready for a call from destiny and move forward while not being afraid of what the future has for them," he said.
Luchkov told the Richmond News the toughest decision was choosing to move to Canada to become a better pianist.
"I want to pursue this as my career, as my job, and it often involves these types of decisions where you have to change your environment, change the place where you live and where you study in order to improve," he said.
"With music, I could do a lot for my country, but I don't have a major name tied to me and I needed to improve to do so."
After winning second place in a contest in Israel, Luchkov received an email from his professor to play in the Italy Music Festival in 2022. From there, he was then offered a plan to leave Ukraine to find a place overseas to advance in his music education with the help of Thrive Refuge.
"It's always about the hard decisions and you have to decide for yourself if you're ready to take a challenge and move forward.
"I didn't expect that my life would turn that much, and to be studying in a place such as UBC."
Funds raised from the April 12 concert, that runs from 6 to 9 p.m., will go towards the Immigration Services Society of British Columbia (ISSofBC) which advocates for the end of conflict around the world.
ISSofBC CEO Jonathan Oldman will also be at the concert to discuss the current refugee crisis.
Tickets for the concert are $15 each or $5 for those with financial need and can be purchased here.
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