Canadian Composer’s Vespers Premiered in
Kyiv
A new sacred-music
choral work by Canadian composer Roman Hurko received its world premiere on
September 24 in
The
concert was supported by the Canadian Embassy in
The Kyiv Music Fest is an annual festival, now in its 16th year. It took place from
September 24 to October 1. The festival is conducted under the aegis of
The
Fest features choral, orchestral, instrumental and vocal chamber-music
performances by a range of groups and artists from
This
year, two programs, “Musical Dialogues of Ukraine-Estonia and Ukraine-USA”,
explored contemporary offerings from these countries. A chamber group from
The
performance of the Vydubychi Church Chorus opened the 2005 Fest. Founded in
1990, the choir consists of professional singers and graduates of music
conservatories and institutes.
Under
the artistic direction of Volodymyr Viniar, who obtained his degree in musical
education at the M. Drahomanov Pedagogical University of Kyiv, the choir has
gained international recognition and has performed on stages and in churches in
The
choir's performance of Vechirnia was magical because Hurko’s work is
infused with spirituality. Melodious, yet with a hint of modernism, it has the
ability to lift the listener to worship.
The
24 voices of the choir deeply touched the audience who came to hear them
in the majestic, yet small, Sviato-Uspensky Sobor of the Kyiv Pecherska Lavra.
The 80-plus audience, consisting of professional musicians, music scholars and
members of the public, continued their applause long after it might have been
expected to stop.
Lesia
Dychko, the well-known Ukrainian composer and energetic motor behind the Kyiv
Music Fest, offered moving, sincere words of praise to the composer and the
choir after the completion of the one-hour performance. When the choir sang
"Bozhe Velykiy Yedyniy" as an encore, the air was electric.
Vechirnia
was recorded last May and
is being currently mastered for production. The CD is scheduled to be released
in early 2006. A DVD of the Kyiv performance is also in production.
Vechirnia's
composer, Toronto-born Roman
Hurko, has written several other compositions of Ukrainian sacred choral music,
including Liturgy 2000, Requiem for the Victims of Chornobyl and Liturgy
No. 2. He was accepted last year as a member of the National Association of
Composers of Ukraine.
The
performance of Vechirnia was historic for two reasons. Firstly, it
marked the premiere of this work by Hurko. Secondly, the church the choir
usually sings in, the Vydubytsky Monastery, is under the jurisdiction of the
Kyiv Patriarchate. On September 24, the choir sang in a holy place that is
under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, and did so with the blessing
of the Metropolitan of the latter church. The soloist performing with the choir
was a Ukrainian Catholic priest from Drohobych, dressed in a pidryznyk (vestment)
with a cross of St. George.
The
premiere of Vechirnia was truly memorable. Beautiful music was performed
and majestically served to bring all together to praise the Lord as one.