Music brought the Riverside community together on the evening of February 23rd, as musicians Yukimi Maeda, a Riverside alum, and Slava Dementyev, a current Riverside student, entertained the audience via Zoom with beautiful musical performances. Before sharing pre-recorded sets, Yukimi and Slava spoke about their respective backgrounds in music and how much they enjoyed their language classes at Riverside.
Yukimi, who has been playing the piano since the age of four, opened the program, performing I’ll Close My Eyes by Billy Reid on piano and an original piece titled White Streets. Yukimi studied at Riverside in 2019. "When I moved here, two years ago, I couldn't communicate well with other people… [At Riverside] there are a lot of wonderful people, volunteers, and students, and very smart, warm, wonderful teachers. I learned many things from them, not only English. Now I feel more free in my New York life." Yukimi’s neighbor, Harvie S., accompanied her on the bass.
Slava, who moved to New York City from Moscow last year, has studied saxophone since age nine and attended the Moscow Music School. He performed a cover of pop star Billie Eilish’s song My Future and The Raft (Plot) by Russian composer Yuriy Loza.
“Both Yukimi and Slava were extraordinary. It makes us so proud that we have been able to work with them and that they are part of the Riverside community,” said Riverside Executive Director Berta Colòn. You can find a recording of the event here: