By Walter Kish

Since my earliest years, I have been convinced that Ukrainians have an extra gene in their chromosomes that makes them particularly susceptible to music.  While it is true that music plays an important part in most cultures, to Ukrainians it is an integral part of their psychological and emotional make up.  To sing and to dance is a cornerstone of the Ukrainian soul.

This was brought home to me in a big way at a recent concert that I attended at Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall that featured the Kyiv Chamber Choir under the direction of a most dynamic and innovative conductor by the name of Mykola Hobdych.  Over the course of two hours, I laughed and I cried.  I was awed and amazed. I was absolutely carried away by the talent, the spirit and the creativity of this fine group of singers. This is not a large choir as far as Ukrainian choirs go – only twenty one singers, but what they may lack in numbers, they sure make up for in heart and soul. 

At the Toronto concert I attended, they were complemented during the first half of the concert by the participation of the local Vesnivka Choir, the St. Michael’s Choir School and the famed Elmer Iseler Singers. 

This part of the performance focused on sacred choral music of Ukraine, particularly relating to the Easter season.  The four choirs were distributed throughout the circular theatre, creating a unique audio sensation as the chants and the voices alternated directions as well tonal quality, as the different choirs responded to each other in an antiphonal display of sound.  Each choir took their individual turn as well, on the main stage, demonstrating their individual artistry and style.  I was particularly taken by one of the pieces performed by the Kyiv Chamber Choir wherein the melody rippled up and down the line of choristers like a wave, with the notes dancing and shimmering like light reflecting on the waves of the ocean.  Their mastery of traditional sacred choral music was indeed impressive.

By the intermission, I though that I had the choir fairly pegged as one of the finest “classical” choirs to come out of Ukraine, and was looking forward to the second half of the concert which was to feature traditional Ukrainian folk music.  As it turned out, the second half was even more impressive and unexpected than the first.

While it is true that the second half consisted of Ukrainian folk music, it was done in such an innovative and spirited style that I was left both amazed and dumfounded with its originality.  The underlying melodies were definitely there and recognizable, but overlaying them was a complex array of different musical elements that incorporated jazz, a cappella, blues, barbershop quartet rhythms, and even some cabaret and rock and roll. 

Adding further to the showmanship and entertainment value, the choir used an eclectic array of musical instruments that included drums, a trumpet, flutes, bells, noisemakers of various types, and even scythes.  Several of the numbers also featured some interesting and unconventional choreography that showed that Choir Director Mykola Hobdych is an artist not afraid to push the boundaries of what a choir does.  Fortunately, he has the talent and imagination to make it all work very effectively.

In my time, I have seen many, many concerts featuring Ukrainian choirs, both here and in Ukraine, but seldom have I been so thoroughly entertained and impressed as with this one.  I think that is because most choirs, as good and as talented as they may be, tend to follow traditional conventions and are reluctant to take risks and innovate.  They put on a good show, but they don’t necessarily progress the art form.

Culture cannot remain static, otherwise the repetition will make it stale and eventually uninteresting.  Mykola Hobdych and the Kyiv Chamber Choir are definitely innovators and I am pleased to see them taking this rich musical genre and pushing it in new directions, injecting it with a vibrant dose of creativity and originality.  They have certainly made a new fan out of me.