39^th Ukrainian Music Festival in Toronto

By John Pidkowich

The 39^th Ukrainian Music Festival was held December 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th, 2009, in the rehearsal and performance spaces of the Ukrainian National Federation Community Centre and Trident Hall in Toronto. This year’s Festival was dedicated to the memory of the late Myron Barabash, Honorary President of UMF.

Marta Krawciw Barabash founded the Festival in 1970 and served as its President. After Mrs. Barabash’s death in 2002, her husband Myron Barabash served as the Festival’s Honorary President from 2002, until his death in April 2009. A cornerstone of Canada’s Ukrainian business community, Mr. Barabash was the founding president of the Prometheus Stephan Onyszczuk and Stefania Szwed Foundation, financially supporting Ukrainian culture, education, press, research, the elderly and the church. He also served as Secretary General of the Ukrainian World Congress (1983-88) and was a member of the International Commission to Research the Famine in Ukraine 1932-33.

Today, the Festival remains vibrant and successful due to dedicated hardworking executive, artistic and advisory committee members. The Festival Executive is co-headed by Marta Chomyn and Irena Patten.

The aim of the Festival is to promote the music of Ukrainian composers for piano, violin, bandura, guitar, voice and choir. The 2009 Festival had over 200 children (aged five and up) and teenagers in instrumental and vocal competitions, performing primarily solo, with some duet and trio pieces. Participants were both of Ukrainian heritage and of non-Ukrainian background.

The jury of adjudicators was comprised of Luba Zuk and Ireneus Zuk (both piano), Kvitka Zorych-Kondracki (voice and choir), and Andriy Dmytrovych (bandura, guitar and violin).

The UMF Final Concert was held on December 5 with Master of Ceremonies Zorianna Kilyk, a former festival participant. There were 35 performances of winning festival entry pieces in the Final Concert.  Concert participants received certificates and monetary awards. The concert finalists included the St. Sophia School Children’s Choir who sang “Song for God’s Calling” and “My Christmas Night” by Sister Solomiya Tesla, conducted by O. Yakovleva and accompanied on the violin by Oksana Konopada. The Choir’s Musical Director is Tania Kraw.

Monetary awards totalling $4,100 were presented not only to winners with the highest marks but to all festival entrant winners according to competition category – by instrument (or vocal) - for piano, bandura, guitar, violin, vocal, and choral performance. Buduchnist Credit Union, Prometheus Foundation and Ukrainian Credit Union provided very generous financial support.

A special choir vocal scholarship from the Myron Barabash Fund was awarded to St. Sophia Choir School.

Work on the jubilee 40^th Ukrainian Music Festival has already begun, to be held December 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th, 2010, at the UNF Community Centre in Toronto.