All We Need Is Love
“All we need is Love”
John Lennon
On October 19, 2025, Freiman Hall at the University of Ottawa hosted an evening of poetry and music entitled “Yuras, Cantabile and Friends” — a kind of tribute concert celebrating the talented Belarusian poet Yuras Shametska, who lives in Ottawa. The evening made an unforgettable impression on everyone present and left behind wonderful memories.
How much we lack peace of mind and the ability to simply enjoy life in our everyday routines... That Sunday concert became a ray of light amid the autumn melancholy. I went there hoping for a miracle and anticipating a unique pleasure, as I had long been familiar with the work of Yuras and the Cantabile duo — Vlada Shametska on violin and Misha Rykov on guitar. Yet what I witnessed exceeded even my very high expectations.
A. P. Chekhov, the famous playwright, once wisely observed: “If you want to become an optimist and understand life, stop believing what people say and write; observe and try to understand for yourself.” Watching what unfolded that evening was extraordinarily interesting — and understanding its deeper meaning even more so. Having carefully thought through every detail, the organizers, who were also the main participants in the event, took care of every listener. It seemed to me that they reached every single person in the audience and touched the deepest strings of everyone’s soul with their sincerity and tenderness.
The hall was small but cozy, and there were hardly any empty seats. Every guest received a beautifully designed bilingual program in Belarusian and English, created with obvious love and care. At the heart of the program was a symbolic image of a clear and peaceful sky above Ottawa, Minsk, New York and Paris — cities that inspired Yuras to write poetry during his travels. It was a powerful message of light and peace, echoed by the final composition of the concert: Yuras’s poem “One Sky for Everyone”, performed to Vladimir Vavilov’s Ave Maria.
The concert consisted of two parts, yet the time passed in what felt like a single moment. From beginning to end, the interaction with the audience was filled with such warmth, kindness and love that tears of emotion appeared in the eyes of both listeners and performers.
Although Yuras hosted the evening in Belarusian, even those who did not know the language — and there were quite a few — understood everything perfectly. That is what sincerity means. That is what genuine love means — a feeling that cannot be acted. The entire evening was permeated with it. Only truly kind people with open hearts are capable of creating such an extraordinary atmosphere of warmth and humanity.
A huge screen occupied the central wall of the stage, displaying slides, short videos and photographs that changed in perfect harmony with the music and spoken words. The synchronization was incredible. The magnificent selection of photographs and slides, and their exceptional quality, worthy of international standards, were the work of a true professional — the remarkably modest Ales Korolkevich, together with his family, his wife Inna and daughter Ksenia.
In the first part of the evening, I was particularly moved by the poem “Angel,” emotionally recited by Alexandra Logvin; Andrei Makarevich’s song “The Candle,” translated into Belarusian by Yuras and performed by Misha Rykov; and Yuras’s poem “Tango,” presented to the music of Astor Piazzolla and accompanied by the In Motion dance duo.
Among the performances in the second part, I would especially highlight the poem “Paris,” beautifully and soulfully recited by Aksana Mozgovaya, as well as the touching lyrical Adagio from Evgeny Glebov’s ballet “The Little Prince,” performed with great sensitivity by pianist Alexandra Golod.
I was also struck by the refined sense of humor of Nina Gordon, a wonderful cellist and arranger. Nina found a way to combine the music of Franz Schubert’s piano trio with Yuras’s poem “The Boy.” Before the performance, she shared with the audience some of the secrets behind the creation of the composition, in which musical phrases echoed the intonations and rhythms of the poetic lines.
The culmination of the concert was the appearance of Emily Lakstan, a Canadian soprano with an extraordinarily pure voice, accompanied by Nina Gordon and the Cantabile duo. Her performance was greeted with enthusiastic applause. The crystalline voice of the Canadian singer, who performed two songs by composer Igor Luchenok in Belarusian, arranged by Nina Gordon, completely captivated the audience.
Vlada, Yuras’s wife and muse, conceived and brought to life the idea of organizing this evening in celebration of her beloved husband’s anniversary. Their friends — wonderful musicians, dancers and poetry readers — supported the idea and took part in the concert as a gesture of respect, affection and gratitude.
Misha Rykov, Emily Lakstan, Nina Gordon, Alexandra Golod, Elena Obolenskaya, Oleg Buevich, Evgeny Ivanov, Lyudmila Troyanovski, Aksana Mozgovaya, Alexandra Logvin, Ales, Inna and Ksenia Korolkevich, Igor Korolkevich — and the entire team together — are a powerful force!
Many people believe that happiness is the joy found in every moment we live. I would compare happiness to an electrocardiogram — pulsation and stillness, confidence and despair, pride and self-doubt, admiration and disappointment... All these emotions accompany each of us throughout life.
It is the pulsation of every lived moment that makes us happy and frees us from limitations. The evening of poetry and music described above was a vivid example of exactly that.
Let us be happy, people!
Marina Kochetova