If you ask the accomplished Ukrainian-born concert violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv if she’s worried about the impact of artificial intelligence on her work as an artist and performer, she’ll answer frankly.

“You can’t replace humans,” she says.

For Ivakhiv – who has performed solo and chamber music in venues around the globe and who says that, for her, music is as essential as breathing – there’s no string of code that can replicate the interaction between an artist and their audience.

“When you ask me why I am a musician, it’s because it’s a way for me to express my emotions,” Ivakhiv explains, “and I feed off the emotion that I feel from a person who is listening to me play. When the audience responds to my feelings, to my interpretation of the masterworks or of new pieces, I feed off that energy.

“You can’t substitute that. You can’t replace that experience.”

That experience is just a part of what Ivakhiv exposes her students to as a professor of violin and viola with the Department of Music at the UConn School of Fine Arts.

Her students, she explains, are performers, but also academics and scholars, composers and creatives, communicators and entrepreneurs. And they’re citizens of the world and members of communities as well – roles she tries to remind them of while they’re engaged in the demands of their studies.

While UConn might be better known for research and athletics than the arts, it’s the University’s multidisciplinary nature that Ivakhiv says sets it apart in the competitive world of music and helps her send not just accomplished but also well-rounded musicians out into the world after graduation.

“There is more to life than music, and this is what I encourage my students to experience: to take classes outside of their discipline and to engage with other fields,” Ivakhiv says. “It is neither necessary nor desirable to be only a violinist, only a performer, or only a teacher. A meaningful artistic life requires many dimensions and layers.

“This is one of the strengths of the University of Connecticut. Students have the opportunity to explore different departments and be exposed to a wide range of disciplines beyond music, which enriches both their personal growth and their artistic development.”

Ivakhiv and two of her current students – graduate teaching assistant and doctor of musical arts student Yi Charice Tang and undergraduate violin student Antonio Avilés Figueroa ’27 (SFA) – recently joined Interim Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Pamir Alpay at the von der Mehden Recital Hall at UConn Storrs for a conversation about music, education, and their own successes as performers, entrepreneurs, and educators.

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Pamir: You’re an amazing artist and performer. How do you balance teaching and performing? How does all of that come together?

Solomiya: Thank you. I do not balance. I run on empty, like every person who does many jobs at a high level.

I’m thrilled to be teaching here at the University of Connecticut, because I truly have wonderful students who inspire me. And I learn from them what not to do and what to do when I perform. I’m very proud of these young people and their dedication to music and art, and also their dedication to making a difference in communities.

Because here, we are not simply training musicians. We are helping shape thoughtful human beings, engaged citizens, and advocates who will go back into the world and use their artistry to create positive change.

I perform a lot, because without performing, I don’t know who I am. It’s like breathing for me. But I think that’s also good for my students, because they see what being an active musician and professional is. They get first-hand experience in what it’s like to be a performer, a professor, an educator, and also a community member.

Pamir: What keeps you excited about music and performing? What makes you do what you do?

Solomiya: It’s a way for me to express myself and to bring the community together, because there is something truly wonderful about seeing people connect through music, art, and shared experiences. I haven’t played a concert yet where there wasn’t someone in the audience whom I knew. People travel to hear me perform, and my students come to support me as well. It is always deeply moving to see familiar faces in the audience and to know that so many people made a special effort to be there for that performance.

I recently performed in New York City, and two former students came to the concert. At Carnegie Hall, four students attended – not only my violin students, but students from across the music department. They come to hear me play, to say ‘hello,’ and to stay connected, and that means so much to me. I’m truly very grateful.

I think UConn needs to rent Carnegie Hall, or Lincoln Center, and showcase what we have here. Jazz bands, marching bands, symphony orchestra – I think there is a community in New York City that is starving to get back to its UConn roots.

Pamir: Carnegie Hall is one of the legendary settings, right?

Solomiya: The acoustics are actually spectacular. It’s just one of a few in the whole world that has acoustics like that. You performed at Carnegie, Antonio, isn’t that right?

Pamir: Yes, tell me about that, I’d love to know more about that.

Antonio: It’s definitely an amazing experience. When I went for the first time, it was junior year of high school. It was part of a summer program where they select people from around the U.S. to perform in Carnegie. It’s called the National Youth Orchestra.

Solomiya: The NYO auditions in every major city of the United States, and pick the best students, and then bring them to Carnegie to work with fantastic artists.

By the way, Antonio travels every Saturday to Boston, taking a bus from Hartford in order to rehearse and perform with the prestigious Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. The ensemble is made up primarily of students from the New England Conservatory, along with some students who travel from New York from Juilliard to participate. Antonio is proudly representing the University of Connecticut in this outstanding orchestra.

Pamir: Speaking of your wonderful students who are here with us today. You’re an undergraduate student, Antonio. Charice, you’re a doctoral student. What do you look for in your students? What sorts of qualities?

Solomiya: I look for potential and for a genuine desire to improve. I think those are very important qualities, because many people are talented – and these are exceptionally talented young musicians. But beyond talent, I look for eagerness to grow, to learn, and to become part of this wonderful world of music and of education.

Many of my students aspire not only to become performers, but also educators who will inspire the next generation.

Pamir: Another question for you, based on that – music education, it’s very rigorous. You have to be super disciplined, and you have to work, have to study, have to practice. How do you help your students? Because I’m assuming there’s a lot of burnout as folks go through it.

Solomiya: That’s an excellent question. My students will attest that I strongly encourage them to go outside the music department, to build friendships outside the music department, and to engage with other disciplines. Life is not one dimensional, and neither should their education be.

I encourage them to socialize, go on dates, and not to become isolated in practice rooms. They need real-life experience in order to bring depth, perspective, and humanity into their artistry.

I also encourage them to go and listen to other artists. It’s not easy to travel from Storrs to New York or Boston, but we are ideally positioned between these cultural centers, with access to so much artistic life. It’s one of the many reasons I believe so strongly in the University of Connecticut and the state of Connecticut. Our geographic location places us in a uniquely advantageous position to grow, to engage with major artistic communities, and to remain competitive with institutions in both New York and Boston.

Burnout happens not just to the students, but to faculty as well, and I think the best way to cope is to take care of yourself. Self-care is very important. I encourage them to always reach out if help is needed, but also to go and have a life, experience life.

Pamir: Charice, you’re from China, you studied in Germany. What brought you to Storrs?

Charice: I did my master’s in Cambridge, Massachusetts. One day, one of my favorite faculty from Longy School of Music of Bard College, where I did my master’s, reached out to me and said, there’s this amazing faculty at UConn, and her name is Solomiya Ivakhiv, and the school is in need of a teaching assistant for American pop music history. And Dr. Ivakhiv is a great violinist, and she is looking for doctoral students, would you like to go there and have an audition?

I came here, I met Dr. Ivakhiv, and I just finished the second year of my DMA [doctor of musical arts].

Solomiya: We do talk to other institutions to try to recruit the best students, to get the best talent to the University of Connecticut. We don’t have many graduate assistantships, we would love to have more students, but it’s wonderful because the students who are in the graduate assistantships bring a lot of value and expertise and knowledge. Charice is not only a very good musician, but she’s a very good academic, so she will be a perfect professor, someone who can do it all.

Pamir: So, you teach as well?

Charice: Yes, American popular music history.

Pamir: I would have loved to take that.

Charice: You’re very welcome to take my discussion section. I’m just assisting the professor, so the professor teaches lectures twice a week, and I lead the discussion sections of 50 students per week.

Pamir: That’s a pretty good crowd. So, tell me a bit more about your doctoral studies. How does it work, and how do you combine research and scholarly work with your creative work?

Charice: The degree is actually very tough, but also very exciting. I spend a lot of time on my computer, researching. I write academic papers. I also spend a lot of time in the library reading, focusing on music history and theories.

I haven’t decided on a specific thesis topic, but I have some ideas. I’m very interested in modern violin repertoire by living composers, because there hasn’t been so much light shed on their works.

Solomiya: For three years, [DMA] students take coursework, and then at the end of the third year, they determine the focus of their dissertation. They are immersed in advanced music theory, music history, and the analysis of major musical works. In the middle of the third year, they formally select their dissertation topic. And in the meantime, they have to play recitals, be in chamber groups and symphony orchestra. Charice also works in a music school.

Charice: Yes, I work as a chamber coach and band instructor at two music schools in Boston.

Solomiya: And you also founded a quartet with four women.

Charice: Yes, the GAIA Quartet. We play compositions by living composers, which is my passion.

Solomiya: They had a very successful tour of Canada last year.

Pamir: So many different dimensions.

Solomiya: Yes, so she’s an entrepreneur as well. And this is what we teach our students, that you can’t just wear one hat. You’re a scholar, but you’re also a performer, you’re a teacher, and you’re an entrepreneur.

Pamir: That’s a very good point.

Charice: I think for modern musicians, you really need to be open minded, and you have to work in diverse fields. And especially, I don’t think you can just stick in a classical repertoire. I mean, classical music is amazing. But the music industry has been evolving, and musical repertoire has also been evolving. If we only play the so-called ‘standard reps,’ the modern voices by modern composers will never be heard.

I think it’s really, really important to bring these works to a modern audience and to make modern classical music accessible. So, we don’t just come out and play a concert. We collaborate with modern composers, reach out to them.

Pamir: That’s so exciting. So, speaking of exciting – Antonio, you’re far from home also, from Puerto Rico. Tell me about your journey to Storrs.

Antonio: By the end of my junior year, I decided that I wanted to study violin performance, but I wasn’t sure where. I didn’t want to stay in Puerto Rico, because there are more opportunities on the mainland. There’s only one music school in Puerto Rico, and I wanted to explore more. That’s why I decided to come here.

I emailed Dr. Ivakhiv for a lesson, because when you apply to music schools, you have a process of auditions. You have to send videos, résumés, everything, and then you can have trial lessons with professors before you get your decision.

Solomiya: Professors offer complimentary trial lessons, which is a way to recruit students.

Antonio: The trial lesson helps see if there’s a match between the student and the professor, because that’s a really big part of music school, that the teaching style of the professor matches the student’s needs.

So, I was looking for music schools, and UConn came up. And to be honest, I had never heard of the school before I applied. I didn’t even know it was a basketball school. My classmates, when I said where I was going, they were so excited for me, like, you’re going to see all the basketball players.

Pamir: You had no idea?

Antonio: I had no idea.

Pamir: So, for you, the attraction was working with Dr. Ivakhiv.

Solomiya: He was very determined. He kept emailing and asking for lessons, and I saw the passion and the drive. And that’s who we look for, people who are dedicated and want to learn, because it’s important that they have the desire and the talent and the desire to push themselves forward.

Pamir: That’s remarkable. So, you’re on a national stage as well. How is the education you’re both getting now, and your interaction with your advisor, helping you to become a presence on the national stage?

Antonio: I want to pursue a career as an orchestra performer in the future, and all of the orchestras that I play in currently, I approach the conductors, talk to them about what I’m learning, and they’re eager to hear about it. I feel like that’s pretty important. Beyond performance, UConn is teaching me a lot of the social skills that I need, that we all need, for music. It’s really important to have social skills and be able to talk to people.

Charice: The classes that are offered by UConn have helped me a lot. I would say they changed me. They reshaped me as musician.

I remember the first semester when I was taking a class with our wonderful history faculty, Dr. Janie Cole – she introduced us to world music, to early medieval music in Africa, which I’d never heard of. It was so inspiring. It really, really touched the deepest spot of my heart.

And it opened my eyes and made me realize that there is so much diversity out there in the world, not just Western music, but also world music. There’s wonderful music in Asia, Africa, everywhere in the world. Music has been a part of us since our earliest days, and it just helped me see how meaningful my job is, to bring music to the world.

Solomiya: If I may add, coming from the conservatory background, where my focus was music from the age of 6, what I love about the University of Connecticut is that I’m constantly inspired by my colleagues, my non-musical colleagues, because every time I go to a meeting or interact with someone from a different department, I realize that I’m surrounded by very intelligent people who care about their work, care about society, and are very good at what they do.

There is more to life than music, and this is what I encourage my students to experience: to take classes outside of their discipline and to engage with other fields. It is neither necessary nor desirable to be only a violinist, only a performer, or only a teacher. A meaningful artistic life requires many dimensions and layers.

This is one of the strengths of the University of Connecticut. Students have the opportunity to explore different departments and be exposed to a wide range of disciplines beyond music, which enriches both their personal growth and their artistic development.

Pamir: You guys are just amazing. Thank you for finding UConn, and thank you for all that you do.