Feb. 24: Composer and Pianist Vadim Neselovskyi Releases New Album PERSEVERANTIA Executive Produced by John Zorn for Tzadik – New Single Out Today

Composer and Pianist Vadim Neselovskyi
Releases New Album PERSEVERANTIA

A Suite for Piano and String Trio in 11 Movements with Ysaÿe String Trio
Executive Produced by John Zorn for Tzadik

First Single & Video Out Today: Refugees
Listen Now | Watch Now

Worldwide Release Dates
Digital: February 24, 2026
CD: February 27, 2026
Pre-Order Available Now

“Neselovskyi is a rare mix of classically trained pianist and brilliant jazz improviser, a musical omnivore for whom different sounds have always flowed together.” – PBS Newshour

“Vadim Neselovskyi’s third-stream pianism shares the qualities of a sculpture carved in ice: finely wrought detail, sharply traced; glinting elegance; coolness to the touch; refractions of light. His right and left hands converse with each other in eager, enchanted dialogue. “
– The New York Times

“I truly believe that [Vadim Neselovskyi] is one of the greatest pianist / composers out there right now.” – Jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch

Downloads, Press Photos, and CDs available to press on request
VadimNeselovskyi.com | Tzadik.com

Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-based Vadim Neselovskyi – composer, pianist, and Professor of Jazz Piano at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA – announces his new album PERSEVERANTIA, executive produced by John Zorn for Tzadik. Neselovskyi’s latest recording is an original suite for piano and string trio in 11 movements, performed together with the Netherlands-based Ysaÿe String Trio (Rada Ovcharova, violin; Emlyn Stam, viola and Willem Stam, cello). The album is scheduled for release on February 24, 2026, commemorating the fourth anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

The first single from PERSEVERANTIA, titled Refugees, is out today, alongside an accompanying video release. Born out of witnessing Ukrainian families fleeing the war, Refugees transforms anguish into compassion through rare emotional depth. Fusing improvisational fire at the piano with the choral-like resonance of strings, it offers a haunting glimpse of Neselovskyi’s most ambitious work yet.

As a young composer and pianist growing up in Odesa, Ukraine, Neselovskyi discovered that his calling was not to follow any one stylistic path but to become a "creator of music.” He has long since fulfilled that early promise in myriad ways both inventive and unexpected: as a composer whose vision is expansive enough to spark inspired interpretations from jazz trio and symphony orchestra alike; as an improviser carving surprising pathways through the straightahead, the avant-garde, and the indefinable; and as a collaborator valued by peers, mentors and fellow innovators.

Known for his collaborations with Gary Burton, John Zorn, and Fred Hersch, in 2022, Neselovskiy paid tribute to his hometown with ODESA (Sunnyside Records) – a ruminative and poetic solo piano album featuring compositions inspired by Ukrainian landmarks like the Odesa Railway Station, Potemkin Stairs, and Odesa Conservatory. The New York Times described how throughout the album, Neselovskyi “takes care to depict each given scene or concept with a sure compositional hand.” The album was also featured by NPR’s Morning Edition, WNYC's All of It, PBS Newshour, The Boston Globe, and more.

Three years later, both Neselovskyi’s compositional instincts and his sense of resilience have only grown, paving the way for PERSEVERANTIA – an album that tells a story of compassion, empathy, willpower, resistance, sincerity, falsehood, freedom, and the arduous path to it.

Neselovskyi says, “Stylistically, PERSEVERANTIA weaves together the many strands of my life, as a post-classical composer, world-touring jazz musician, and individual inextricably connected to my Ukrainian and Jewish roots, ultimately converging toward a single cohesive artistic statement.”

As a Ukrainian, Neselovskyi is deeply connected to current events. However, this suite is not only about the devastating war; it speaks to everyone, reflecting on timeless human challenges and the best aspects of human nature. Placing exhilarating piano improvisations in the context of gorgeous compositions for classical string trio, PERSEVERANTIA evokes a cornucopia of emotions and striking scenes, encouraging unhurried consideration from beginning to end.

“Composing PERSEVERANTIA was my way of processing everything that has happened in my home country since February 2022,” says Neselovskyi. “Music, particularly instrumental music devoid of lyrics, is a universal language. And while I did not intend for this work to be an easy listening experience, I hope that its message of resilience, empathy, and hope reaches those who choose to listen.”

PERSEVERANTIA is Vadim Neselovskyi’s seventh-length album following his most recent work – 2022’s critically acclaimed ODESA – an emotionally vivid and personal reflection on Neselovskyi’s Ukrainian birthplace and its connection to the composer’s multifaceted life.

Vadim Neselovskyi
PERSEVERANTIA: A Suite for Piano and String Trio

Release Date: February 24, 2026 | Tzadik
Recorded October 16-17, 2024 in Bethlehemkerk, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Tracklist:

[1] Before 24 [8:02]
[2] Tanks Near Kyiv [5:44]
[3] March Passacaglia [8:14]
[4] I Don’t Need a Ride [5:18]
[5] Orwell [6:27]
[6] Refugees [6:38]
[7] Dancing As If Nothing Ever Happened [5:59]
[8] Chorale [5:35]
[9] Lviv Funeral [2:56]
[10] Perseverantia [8:26]
[11] After 24 [7:54]

[Total Time: 71:13]

Vadim Neselovskyi, Piano
Rada Ovcharova, Violin
Emlyn Stam, Viola
Willem Stam, Cello

Executive Producer: John Zorn
Engineered by Joeri Saal
Mixed by Christian Heck
Edited by Lukas Lohner
Pre-Mastered by Christoph Stickel
Mastered by Scott Hull
Album Front Cover Photos by Alexander Yakimchuk
Album Back Cover Photos by Arkady Mitnik
Album Design by Heung Heung Chin

About Vadim Neselovskyi: The Los Angeles Times has praised Vadim Neselovskyi’s “extraordinary playing” while The Guardian (UK) called him “the most promising of the young improvisers." Whether as a pianist, composer, improviser, soloist or bandleader, Neselovskyi creates music that is truly inspired and wholly unique. His work has been played by jazz greats like Randy Brecker, Antonio Sanchez, Julian Lage, and Gary Burton, as well as classical artists (Daniel Gauthier, whose recording of Neselovskyi’s “San Felio” won an ECHO Classical Award) and symphony orchestras in the United States and Europe.

Those diverse talents have attracted the attention of revered artists crossing the boundaries of genre, including legendary vibraphonist Gary Burton, who famously enlisted Neselovskyi for his acclaimed Generations Quintet; the prestigious Graz Philharmoniker, which performed his composition “Prelude for Vibes” on their New Year’s program; iconoclastic composer/saxophonist John Zorn, who invited Neselovskyi to contribute to The Book Beriah,the final installment of his Masada project; and French horn/alphorn pioneer Arkady Shilkloper, a profound influence with whom the pianist now shares a longstanding duo collaboration. In the summer of 2022, an orchestral version of *Winter in Odesa*— one of the movements from the *Odesa Suite* — was premiered at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, featuring classical saxophone star Asya Fateyeva and Ensemble Reflektor as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. The concert was recorded and broadcast by ARTE TV.

About the Ysaÿe Trio: Founded in 2006 by Rada Ovcharova (violin), Emlyn Stam (viola) and Willem Stam (cello) the Ysaÿe Trio performs regularly at the leading festivals and concert halls throughout the Netherlands as well as abroad. “The Ysaÿe Trio performs with conviction, craftsmanship and love. Superb!” Haarlems Dagblad (Haarlem, Netherlands)