POTTSTOWN PA – A trio of professional musicians will perform “Good Tidings: Ukrainian Art Songs of Winter and Christmas” on Dec. 19 (2025; Friday) at 7 p.m. in The Hill School’s Alumni Chapel. One of the three is a Ukrainian native, with a family member involved in the nation’s defense against hardships created by Russia’s invasion there in 2022.
The performers are Andrew Skitko, tenor; Ksenia Stetsenko-Skitko, violinist; and Alina Rabchuk, pianist. They will offer a festive evening of Ukrainian music set to winter poems, prayers, and sacred and Christmas texts. Translations will be provided.
No tickets are required, but a suggested donation of $25 may be made at the door or online. Contributions will help cover costs related to the concert, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit Ukrainian war-relief efforts.
“Ukrainian art songs – poetry set to music – are not only incredibly beautiful and uplifting, but have been tenacious forms of resilience against more than a century of attacks on Ukraine and its distinctive culture,” Skitko says. He adds that the nation’s artists, writers, and musicians throughout history have been censored, arrested, and imprisoned by various Russian regimes.
Featured selections of “Good Tidings” will include the carol “Schedryk,” better known today as “Carol of the Bells,” composed by Mykola Leontovych. Other pieces will include works of Stepovyi, Volynsky, Barvinsky, Sonevytsky, Nyzhankivsky, Liudkevych, and Dychko. Skitko acknowledges some the composers may be unfamiliar, but is confident the audience will be “enchanted and inspired by their magnificent and stirring compositions.”
More About The Performers
Andrew Skitko, director of the group, sings regularly with the Opera Philadelphia Chorus and the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir. A resident of Pottstown, he is a private voice teacher and the cantor at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church in Trenton NJ.
Skitko holds a master’s degree in vocal performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College. He has sung with the world’s leading orchestras on stages that include Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kimmel Center. He is an active member of The Ukrainian Art Song Project, which promotes Ukrainian classical music.
Skitko’s wife, Ksenia Stetsenko-Skitko, is a native of Ukraine who trained as a professional violinist at Lviv’s Solomiya Krushelnytska National Music School. She holds a degree in cultural studies from Ukrainian Catholic University, and a degree in music composition from Lviv’s Mykola Lysenko National Music Academy.
Recent performances of her award-winning music include concerts at Lviv Philharmonic Hall; a concert by Canada’s “Kapella Kyrie” Slavic Chamber Choir; and premieres at the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival in New York City and with The LOTUS Project in Trenton.
Stetsenko-Skitko’s brother volunteered for Ukraine’s army. He has been fighting on the front lines since the beginning of the war.
Alina Rabchuk is a Ukrainian-born pianist and accompanist with more than 15 years’ experience accompanying choirs, vocalists, and instrumentalists across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. After moving to the U.S. in 2009, she studied piano with Edward Ferdinand.
She earned her Bachelor of Music in piano performance and pedagogy from Westminster Choir College, and is pursuing a master’s in music education. A Jacobs Music Company Steinway Award recipient, Rabchuk was trained at the European American Musical Alliance Academy.
Parking and a Shuttle
Those attending the concert should park at The Hill School’s Center For The Arts, 766 Beech St. A free shuttle will run from the center’s lot to the chapel. As an alternative, guests may walk to the chapel through the scenic historic campus. Find a walking map available online.
Allow sufficient time – about 10 minutes – for either for the walk or shuttle to the chapel. The concert starts promptly at 7 p.m.
Our entertainment reporting covers the arts and culture, shows, exhibits, performances, festivals, and history-related activities within, or that affect residents of, Montgomery, Berks, and Chester PA counties. Find more entertainment articles here. Also, see and join the Pottstown Arts and Cultural Alliance group on Facebook.
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