Dr. Taras Filenko is a well-known Ukrainian music scholar, pianist, organist, author of several books and over one hundred scientific works on the history of Ukrainian music. He is also a winner of piano competitions and Fulbright scholar. Now Dr. Filenko is a member of the faculty of the City Music Center, Duquesne University. 

During the lecture Dr. Filenko presented a book “The World of Mykola Lysenko: Ethnic Identity, Music, and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Ukraine" along with a slide show of rare photographs about a creative work of the famous Ukrainian composer. Dr. Filenko  also performed Lysenko's compositions and those of his disciples including Yakov Stepovyi, Dmytro Revoutskyi and Pylyp Kozytskyi.