Petro Lopata

Toronto’s Ukrainian Music Festival, now in its 31^st year, was founded by musical and community activists Marta Barabash and Ivanna Kushpeta along with the late Olena Borys. Mrs Barabash told the New Pathway the Festival’s mission is to support the careers of emerging Ukrainian Canadian musicians by offering young talents ranging from 4-18 years old an “opportunity to perform in front of an audience and to win prizes”. Additionally, the Festival provides grants to the best performers on various instruments including, but not limited to piano, cello, bandura and violin.

Mrs Barabash also informed the New Pathway that all the works performed at the Festival are by Ukrainian composers, which promotes Ukrainian music in general–by allowing young musicians to perform them, and audiences to hear them.

The Ukrainian Music Festival involves local music teachers and students, who rehearse works by Ukrainian composers and submit an application to perform at the Festival. In recent years, the Festival has expanded to include ensemble performances, including duets, trios and even appearances by groups of young bandurists.

Mrs Barabash, now in her 80’s–and now the driving force behind the Festival–is an accomplished concert pianist, who studied in Ukraine at the Musical Institute of Lviv and Stryj. Prior to WWII, she graduated from the Music Academy of Vienna and continued her studies at the Berlin Academy. After arriving in Canada in 1948, she taught music in Winnipeg and later moved to Toronto, where she continued teaching and working as a concert-master and accompanist to many local choirs.

This year’s Festival is scheduled for Sunday, December 2, 2pm at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, 83-85 Christie St. Musicians who’d like to play are asked to contact Mrs Barabash by calling 416-762-9158 or by faxing their particulars to 905-278-2246.