Yevshan choir performs annual concert at West Hartford Town Hall (07/14/02)

Yevshan choir performs annual concert at West Hartford Town Hall

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The Yevshan Ukrainian Vocal Ensemble appeared in its annual spring concert at the West Hartford Town Hall Auditorium. Comprising 34 singers from eight parishes across Connecticut, the choir drew an enthusiastic response from a diverse audience of music lovers.

The first half of the May 19 program featured liturgical works by Bortniansky, Leontovych, Koshetz and Stetsenko, as well as a premiere of a new liturgical work by Ohio-based composer Yuri Hodovanec. The ensemble also performed an early motet "The Body of Christ" (Tilo Khrystove) that traces its roots to a Slovenian monastery. The first half concluded with Bortniansky's rousing Easter choral concerto No. 34, "Let God Arise" (Khai voskresne Boh).

In the second half of the concert, Yevshan performed a wide variety of rarely heard folk songs and secular works, including new arrangements by Julian Kytasty and Yevshan's music director Alexander Kuzma. For its final three selections, the choir was joined by a talented trio of sibling bandurists from Yonkers, New York. Boyan, Ruslana and Vsevolod Makarenko, reinforced Yevshan's bandura trio of Daria Richardson, Christina Jamahian and Irene Kytasty-Kuzma in a performance of "Woe to the Lapwing" (Oi Hore Tii Chaitsi) and a humorous minstrel ballad "Trouble" (Pro Bidu) by Demutsky, arranged for choir and bandura ensemble by Mr. Kytasty.

The concert received extensive advance publicity on Connecticut's public radio stations as well as a full-length feature article in the Connecticut Post that delved into the history of the bandura and the revival of Ukrainian musical traditions.

Yevshan has been invited to perform in a joint concert on December 8 with the highly regarded ensemble, Chorale Connecticut, at Welte Auditorium on the campus of Central Connecticut State University. The program, entitled "An Old World Christmas" will feature carols and classical works from Ukraine, England, Germany and Italy. For more information, or to audition for "Yevshan" contact Ihor Stasiuk at (860) 621-0661.

| Home Page |