Stevan Knezevich 
Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Stevan Knezevich has been
playing the accordion since the age of 5. At approximately the same age,
he also enrolled in piano lessons, later completing the Royal Conservatory
of Toronto's Performer's Associateship. At the age of 12, Stevan was employed
by the Dovbush Ukrainian Dance Ensemble as their sole dance accompanist.
This led to numerous exposures to various professional dance instructors
and bayanists from the Ukraine and Russia. His most memorable bayanists
were Bohdan Parumba and Viatcheslav
Semionov. These and many other bayanists from Ukraine and Russia led
Stevan to continue his interests in and develop his own unique style of
playing his own accordion. In addition, Stevan toured both Canada and the
US with this dance group and Russian dance group "Yablochko" where
he had the opportunity to meet many other musicians. By the end of high
school, Stevan gained a strong reputation as one of the finest folk dance
accordionists in Vancouver and was playing for 7 different groups at the
time. These included both of the groups mentioned above in addition to the
St. Sava Serbian Dance Group (junior and senior groups), Cheremshyna Ukrainian
Dancers (now known as the Trepak Ensemble), Druzhba (the junior Ukrainian
group associated with the Dovbush Dancers) and eventually a Greek ensemble
that was just beginning to form.In addition to his employment as outlined above, Stevan was also a member of a Jewish quartet called "Tum Balalaika" for two years from 1997 to 1999. They produced and recorded a CD entitled "Tum Balalaika, A Shared Heritage" that took advantage of Stevan's repertoire and expertise in rare Russian and Ukrainian music. Moreover, the CD displayed the many overlapping themes and melodies that Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish music share in common. Recently, Stevan produced and recorded his first solo album entitled "Slavik". The content of these CDs includes material that Stevan compiled during the last 15 years as an accompanist for the several different ethnic dance ensembles mentioned above, as well as from his numerous endeavours with dance instructors and musicians from the Ukraine and Russia. The majority of the pieces on these CDs are rare solo works that were either arranged by Stevan for the accordion or that have been previously arranged by others. In addition, there are a number of pieces that he personally arranged for 2 to 6 six accordions and an original composition that has an eastern European flavour. Music from the CD "Slavik", has been played on CBC's "Fresh Air" with Jeff Goodes and CBC's "The Global Village". Aside from his music, Stevan obtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and a Ph.D. in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from the University of British Columbia. He then went on to work as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the British Columbia Cancer Agency where he did molecular genetic research on lymphomas. Currently, he is entering his third year of medical school at the University of Toronto, Canada. Stevan's double album covers a wide range of the folk music and dances from various Slavic countries such as Belarus, Czech Republic, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. Stevan plays on the acoustic accordion, no electric devices. This recording was produced, recorded, engineered, mastered and graphics by Stevan. The first thing I noticed about this recording is that it was all done professionally: packaging, CD covers and its quality, explanations, track names were done both in English and Russian/Ukrainian, table of countries and corresponding tracks - very impressive! I was equally impressed with Stevan's playing style. Technically, it is confident and secure, crisp clear and light. But there is also that enthusiasm in his playing, that love for the music he performs and that clearly comes through to the listener. That is what touched me in Stevan's performance: his enthusiasm and musicality. This is no doubt an impressive project in the area of Slavic folk music and dances.**** |
