“They came as nine singers, and after this week, they leave as nine artists.” Those were the words of British-Ukrainian bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka, the driving force behind the Ukrainian Art Song Project, which he founded in 2004. The occasion was the final concert of the first-ever Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute that just concluded at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto...
Now in its fifth year, the Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute is designed to introduce the wealth of Ukrainian art songs to singers from Canada and abroad in a week of intensive masterclasses, culminating in a final concert. Having been attending these events except for 2020 and 2021 when the concerts were cancelled due to COVID-19, I am always struck by the high calibre of the performers, young artists with fresh, attractive voices, some of them may well become stars of the future.
Posted on August 29, 2023
Sunday afternoon in the Temerty Theatre, the participants in this year’s Ukrainian art song intensive presented the results of their efforts during the week. There were eight singers (nine if one adds in mentor Benjamin Butterfield, who came in for a couple of numbers). Steven Philcox and Leanne Regehr shared the piano parts.
Like previous years it was staged “in the round” in Temerty with the piano at centre and the audience ranged around it on all sides. Singers came and went, singing from the centre or the periphery. It was really quite slick and ensured that the two halves of the programme flowed. A variety of composers and poets from the 19th century to the present were featured. A lot of Ukrainian art song has significant folk influences, but it seemed particularly strong in the twenty-odd songs chosen this year.
For classical art song lovers in the Toronto area, late summer is more than just spending time at the cottage, enjoying the annual CNE, or barbequing in the backyard. It’s also a time to enjoy the beauty of the classical art song, under the auspices of the Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute, a week of intensive music-making, culminating in a final concert. Now in its fourth summer, the Institute brings together talented young artists in Canada and elsewhere for a week of intensive work on Ukrainian songs.
May 13, 2023: Exploring the uniqueness of Ukrainian art song
A concert of Ukrainian classical music is being presented this weekend in River Heights. Guest host Marjorie Dowhos learned about the unique nature of Ukrainian art song and the efforts to preserve it when she spoke with Katherine Mayba, one of the performers in Liubov: Ukrainian Art Songs of the Heart and Soul.
Ukrainian heritage is woven into every aspect of Winnipeg’s culture. Restaurants and delis serving pierogi, holubtsi, potato pancakes and borscht, bakeries selling paska, Ukrainian churches, the Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Education Centre, the Ukrainian Pavilion at Folklorama, and even doctor’s offices offering services primarily in Ukrainian, Ukrainian culture is everywhere you look. And this weekend, four Desautels alumni and students will be bringing the art songs of Ukraine to Winnipeg.
If you missed it August 13th, click below to listen to the interview about the 3rd annual Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute currently underway at the Royal Conservatory’s TELUS Centre For Performance and Learning, Temerty Theatre with Dr. Melanie Turgeon and Mark Wigmore from The New Classical fm 96.3 radio.
The Ukrainian Art Song Project, now in its 18th year, has introduced the beauty of Ukrainian art songs to many singers and to the song-loving public. The project was founded in 2004 by bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka, who has sung to great acclaim at the Canadian Opera Company. Born in the UK to a Ukrainian father and a British mother, Hunka is passionate about bringing Ukrainian art songs, the bulk of which remain unheard and largely forgotten, to the consciousness of classical music lovers everywhere. Hunka sees these songs as a vital part of the Ukrainian cultural heritage and rightly deserves to be heard…
For a second year, the distinguished British-Ukrainian bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka will be in Toronto to hold the Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute at the Royal Conservatory of Music, August 13 to 19.
“They came as nine singers, and after this week, they leave as nine artists.” Those were the words of British-Ukrainian bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka, the driving force behind the Ukrainian Art Song Project, which he founded in 2004. The occasion was the final concert of the first-ever Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute that just concluded at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto...
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