Kochan and Paris to Kyiv selected for musical showcase (01/10/99)

Kochan and Paris to Kyiv selected for musical showcase

by Diane Slawych
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

TORONTO - The sounds of Ukraine are back in the world music spotlight again, thanks to Alexis Kochan. The Winnipeg-born singer and her Paris to Kyiv ensemble were one of 48 groups chosen from among 250 applicants across Canada to perform at the Showcase of Culturally Diverse and First Nations Artists, held at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on November 14.

Ms. Kochan and Paris to Kyiv - Martin Colledge, Julian Kytasty, Richard Moody and John Wyre - performed several pre-Christian songs, some connected to seasonal rituals of agricultural life, a polytonal duet and magical-sounding instrumental pieces on bandura, viola, cittern and pipes.

The ensemble played some new arrangements from its eponymous first release and selections from its most recent CD, "Variances."

The event was sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), a federal government agency that is part of the Canada Heritage ministry. According to the CCA's website, the aim was to develop "increased audiences and markets for culturally diverse and First Peoples artists," by putting them directly in touch with an array of promoters, called "presenters," thereby supporting their efforts to secure recording contracts and concert bookings.

Invitations were sent to agents, record industry representatives from both the United States and Canada, and a live Internet feed was provided on the CCA's website.

"This was a unique situation," said Ms. Kochan. "Canada Council is beginning to see that there is considerable interest in world music. This is a good way to get people out of their community church basements and give them a bit of a push."

Paris to Kyiv, who took the stage at 9:30 p.m., was one of 16 groups that performed during the daylong Toronto (central Canadian) portion of the showcase. The other 32 ensembles appeared at the "eastern" and "western" showcases that took place in Montreal and Vancouver, respectively. Other groups presented the music of Asia (China, India and Japan), Africa (Ghana and Madagascar), Eastern Europe (Bulgaria), South and Central America (Peru), joined by First Peoples (Status and Non-Status First Nations, Métis and Inuit) bands that played a mix of rap, country and rock.

Paris to Kyiv's performance was enthusiastically received by the audience of about 100 presenters and another 300 members of the public. Ms. Kochan was also pleased. "I felt we sounded pretty edgy," the Winnipeg-based artist said. "A number of the Canada Council people, like the head of its music sector [Micheline Lesage] came up to us and said they were very moved."

"A few of the presenters expressed interest in my work," averred Ms. Kochan after the show. Among them was a representative of Toronto-based outfit Small World Productions, although no new concert dates were confirmed.

"Our next big gig will be for the World Music Institute in New York City at the Symphony Space in May," Ms. Kochan said, adding that the ensemble will be touring the Eastern Seaboard in the U.S. during April and May.

Besides making it her mission to uncover and revive old Ukrainian folk songs, Ms. Kochan, with three CD's to her credit, is also making a contribution to the literature on world music.

Ms. Kochan recently consulted the "Rough Guide to World Music," published in London, England (perhaps the most comprehensive popular reference work on the global music scene), and noticed that two sections contributed by Simon Broughton, "Baltic to Baikal: The Music of Russia and the New Republics Spans the Continents," and "In Search of Gorale: Polish Highland Music and its Neighbors," devoted a mere two paragraphs to specific mentions of Ukrainian music.

The Manitoba-based musician took matters into her own hands. "I phoned Mr. Broughton to complain, and he said: 'Well, we just don't have anyone who knows enough about Ukrainian music,' and I said: 'That's not a problem, I'll do it, and bring along a few writers who really know the music, and what we don't know, we'll research," Ms. Kochan related.

It worked. Ms. Kochan and bandurist Julian Kytasty together researched and wrote some entries on Ukrainian music for the second edition of the guide that is due out early next year. They will be included in the chapter dealing with Eastern Europe.

"We tried to highlight how this very traditional folk music is being pulled into the world music scene," said Ms. Kochan. Their submission covered Ukrainian polyphonic folk signing and choral arrangements, and included a sidebar on the bandura.

Ms. Kochan explained that a discography of material available on CDs, tapes and records was particularly important to the guide's editors. "We covered both the material that was published by the former Soviet Melodiya label and the stuff that was recorded in the diaspora."

Ms. Kochan said she's proud of her work with Mr. Kytasty in this regard: "I'm not sure how much it will turn out to be in the final printer version, but we produced about five solid manuscript pages of material. That's a lot better than two paragraphs."

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