Divchata v Kukhni bring Ukrainian folk singing to the public's attention (01/09/00)

Divchata v Kukhni bring Ukrainian folk singing to the public's attention

by Michael Pidloha

CLEVELAND - Some call it "bilyi holos" (white voice), others call it "velykyi holos" (big voice) and some just call it "holos" (voice). Regardless of its classification, the throaty, nasal sound produced by Eastern European female vocalists is immediately identifiable and becoming more and more popular and welcome to the Western ear.

"There is probably no more haunting sound than that of the close, pungent harmonies of Eastern European women's a cappella singing," says Peggy Latkovich of the Cleveland Free Times, and it was this particular style of singing that was celebrated on Sunday, October 24, 1999, as part of the World Music at INSIDE concert series.

INSIDE, a new art gallery in the heart of Cleveland's historic Tremont neighborhood, presents a continuing series of musical and theater events, including its monthly series - World Music at INSIDE.

The Female Voices of Eastern Europe concert featured the Ukrainian folk trio, Divchata v Kukhni. Formed in 1993, Divchata v Kukhni is known for traditional female vocal folk music of Ukraine.

The trio's name, which means Girls in the Kitchen, comes from a wedding tradition in which the women who prepared the food, especially the bakers of the korovai, the wedding bread, would surround the newly married couple and sing ancient wedding songs.

Also on the program was the recently formed Hungarian women's ensemble Csajok.

The show opened with a short set presented by Csajok, which began the program with Hungarian songs from Transylvania. Dressed in traditional folk costumes, these women wove a wreath of songs which seamlessly flowed from solo singing to duets and trios right through to the full ensemble singing together.

Sometimes sitting behind a table, other times dancing to their own songs, Csajok's performance gave the audience a taste of an evening spent in a Transylvanian village home. Csajok returned to the stage, after a presentation of Ukrainian songs, wearing traditional costumes from Hungary proper and singing songs from that nation.

The first offering of Ukrainian music was a mix of both humorous and serious pieces from various regions of Ukraine. The songs outlined the path of a woman's life: courtship, heartbreak, engagement and marriage.

Nadia Tarnawsky provided the vocals while accompanying herself on the bandura. She was joined by the following musicians: Alexander Fedoriouk, originally from Kolomiya, on tsymbaly; Andrei Pidkivka, originally from Lviv, on sopilka; and Don Safranek, a Cleveland native, on percussion.

Ms. Tarnawsky met Messrs. Fedoriouk and Pidkivka at a concert featuring the Eastern European ensemble, Harmonia, of which they are members. This initial meeting led to frequent collaborations between them. She and Mr. Safranek, a professional percussionist, initiated their collaboration while performing in a Cleveland theater production of Rogers' and Hart's "Boys from Syracuse," in which Ms. Tarnawsky played the bandura with the orchestra.

After a short intermission Divchata v Kukhni took the stage. The members of the trio, Ms. Tarnawsky, Natalie Kapeluck, and Melissa Haluszczak are first- and second-generation Ukrainian Americans. For this special performance they enlisted the talents of Messrs. Fedoriouk, Pidkivka and Safranek, creating a small folk ensemble.

Performing songs from Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Kuban, Lemkivschyna and Zhytomyr, this group entertained the standing-room-only crowd. Some pieces, like "A Khto v Nashim Seli" (Who in Our Village?) and "Oy Hlian Maty" (Gaze Upon Me, Mother) were traditional arrangements of the "bahatoholosia" style (polyphony) and were sung a cappella. Other pieces, like the ensemble's rendition of "Oy Khodyt Son" (The Dream Comes) and "Zvidsy Hora" (In the Mountains) were original arrangements created and performed by the entire ensemble.

Almost all of this group's pieces were from the woman's perspective: traditional folk songs, vesnianky (spring songs), wedding songs and lullabies. The concert ended with rhythmic clapping and calls for an encore which the Divchata v Kukhni ensemble willingly gave to their appreciative audience.

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