Burdon and Rozmai Enchant Crowds in Winnipeg Venues

By Anastasia Sych-Yereniuk

February 5 to 9, 2008 were the warmest musical days of winter in Winnipeg with the arrival of the Burdon Ukrainian Folk Band from Lviv, Ukraine. Over a period of three days, Burdon dazzled school children, dancers and the community with three mini concerts (one hour each) and a full two and a half hour concert. In addition, they conducted a workshop with Rozmai Ukrainian Dance Company that culminated in a beautiful production for the Final Concert. Also, the five Burdon members had the opportunity to tour Ukrainian Winnipeg and do some shopping, especially of the musical kind.

On the first day, Burdon visited an inner city school - Strathcona, in the heart of the old Ukrainian North End. This was a perfect fit for Strathcona School educators who have work relentlessly to transform the way in which curriculum is taught and learned in this inner city school. Burdon’s participatory hands-on approach to song and dance engaged the children in a very non-threatening manner. Burdon’s excitement and passion for their art form afforded Strathcona School’s children with an extraordinary opportunity to work with world class musicians and to explore a new culture while being creative and self-expressive. It was absolutely thrilling for the inner city children to experience a major world class folk band.

Ralph Brown School in Winnipeg with its Ukrainian Bilingual Ukrainian-English program hosted Burdon on February 7. Students of both the Bilingual and English programs enjoyed the ten song concert and at the end participated in looking over and trying some of the exotic musical instruments. Many of the children loved the “Mykolai Carol” because they had sung it traditionally over the past number of years with their Music Teacher Olya Harkava. Everyone agreed that the concert experience was a novel way of bringing Ukrainian World Music into a school setting.

The Burdon and Rozmai evening workshop on February 7 played a prominent role in the renaissance of the Ukrainian dance art form. The dancers worked under the professional artistic direction of Gabriella Rehak and danced to the live music performed by Burdon’s five professional musicians. The workshop was conducted in preparation for the debut of Polissia Quadrille that was just recently choreographed by Kyiv’s Volodymyr Shmahun. The workshop inspired the dancers, many of whom cherish dance as their only thread to Ukrainian culture and heritage, to reach new heights with very sophisticated choreography and fabulous live music. The event was organized by Rozmai’s Artistic Director Gabriella Rehak, and Anastasia Sych-Yereniuk, Chair of the Board.

An afternoon concert on February 8 at the University of Manitoba was organized by Prof. Roman Yereniuk, Acting Director of the Centre for Ukrainian Canadian Studies. The performance at St. John’s College’s Chapel was well attended by over 100 students and faculty members. Burdon performed without speakers and the music filled the chapel chamber with its amazing acoustics. The concert also was supported by St. Andrew’s College, the Department of German and Slavic Studies, St. John’s College and the Ukrainian Students’ Union at the U of M.

The Final Concert at Jubilee Place in Winnipeg was the crowning jewel of Burdon’s three day visit to Winnipeg. Rozmai Ukrainian Dance Company shared the stage with the world renowned folk band. Burdon’s musical accompaniment of live music to Rozmai’s commitment to the beauty of dance and preservation of the Ukrainian culture was reflected in their compelling and electric performance of Polissia Quadrille. This top-notch performance of dance creativity was complemented with the incredibly syncopated rhythms of Burdon. The dancers underwent an incredibly powerful experience dancing very elegantly, lightly and with great finesse accompanied by young creative musicians from their parent’s or grandparent’s Homeland. In addition, Rozmai performed an amazing Pryvit dance, a difficult Bukovynian Suite and the charged and energetic Hopak.

Burdon Ukrainian Folk Band performed three sets that included 22 different songs from the regions of the Carpathian Mountains and also included songs with influences from the neighbouring countries of Poland, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary. For good measure, there were also songs with gypsy origins and in one song they performed with the strong beat of African drumming. Altogether, this was a sort of “world music festival” with prominent roots in Ukrainian culture.

The musicians played on some ten different instruments, often interchanging positions on the instruments or even doubling up. In addition, they sang vocals to about half of their melodies. The beautiful alto voice of Olena Yeremenko enchanted the audience many times. The harmony of the instruments and of the voices was amazing. The only a capella number (without instrumental accompaniment) - “On the Way Home from Debrecen” - was very melodic, well harmonized and balanced between the male and female voices. The first song of the evening - a stylized version of “Sviatiy Mykolai”- quickly drew the crowd into the performance because many of the attendees had heard this winter carol many times while growing up in Manitoba. The Finale - “The Kolomyika Set” was outstanding for its clarity and musical interpretation.

For Winnipeg audiences, Burdon's performance was the “Concert of the Year”. Their unique approach to the musical tradition of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains was outstanding while their blending of melodies from Ukraine’s neighbours was majestically performed.

Ukrainian Canadian musical groups have a great resource in Burdon in order to update and create new idioms of musical expression in Canada.