DETROIT — This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America (UBC). Founded in Kyiv in 1918 by Vasyl Yemets as the Kobzar Choir, its successor continued to perform until being disbanded by the Soviet government at the outbreak of World War II. In 1941, the ensemble was reconstituted in Ukraine’s capital by many of its former members, and eventually emigrated in 1949 to the United States, where it continues its mission: to share the bandura and the traditions of the “kobzari” with a global audience.
For a full century, the UBC has been an ambassador of the bandura and of Ukrainian music, having played for audiences from Australia to Austria, from Canada to California, and from Ukraine to the United States.
While celebrating its past, the UBC also keeps a steady focus on its future and the future of bandura in North America. Under the artistic direction of Maestro Oleh Mahlay and the leadership of Anatoli Murha, the organization has developed a long-term strategic plan that will include new artistic and bandura educational initiatives, centerpieces of the UBC’s next century.
To this end, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus has established an endowment, the UBC@100 Legacy Fund. The fund is positioned to raise $2.5 million by the year 2020 in order to fund three key initiatives: first, developing new audience engagement and programming, including collaborative projects; second, research and development of the instrument itself, generating an improved bandura design for musicians around the world; and third, redoubling bandura education efforts, including establishing an international exchange program.
The UBC@100 Steering Committee is the guiding force behind the Legacy Fund. Established in 2017, the committee is led by the UBC president, Mr. Murha of Philadelphia, and Zoryana Loboyko of Toronto, a long-time UBC supporter.
UBC members (from left) Volodymyr Brechun of Toronto, Roman Beley of Toronto and Andriy Hladyshevsky of Edmonton.
“Today, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus is in its strongest organizational and artistic position in modern times,” says Mr. Murha. “By leveraging the 100th anniversary of the ensemble, we created a strategic vision that today’s ensemble will leave for future generations of banduristy around the world, both male and female, and for future UBC members. The men who arrived in Detroit in 1949 left an incredible musical legacy that we are all honored to share in. It’s important to celebrate their achievements and this anniversary while also creating a sustainable future to support our artistic endeavors as a leader in the bandura community.”
Ms. Loboyko writes that she is “thrilled to join the steering committee as co-chair. As a lifelong supporter, I truly believe in the UBC mission and look forward to helping the ensemble fulfill its strategic vision.”
The UBC has held a series of fund-raising events designed to engage its supporters in the UBC@100 Legacy Fund and will continue to do so through the year 2020. To date, the UBC@100 Legacy Fund has donations and pledges of over $400,000 in major gifts.
In September, the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus will launch its Centennial Concert Season, which will run through June 2019. The first concert of the season will take place on Sunday, September 9, in Youngstown, Ohio, in the Ford Family Recital Hall of the Eleanor Beecher Flad Pavillion at the DeYor Performing Arts Center.
The season will also include a historic tour of Ukraine in October. The goal of the tour is to develop relationships with multiple bandura schools and ensembles throughout Ukraine in order to build on the UBC strategic pillar of developing an international exchange program for the bandura. Additionally, concerts are planned in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Rivne, Lutsk and Lviv, in addition to multiple special events. Additional concerts are planned in North America in 2019.
As the current artistic director and conductor, Mr. Mahlay shares the following, “Our artistic team carefully surveyed the ensemble’s wealth of repertoire and have selected songs which will share the ensemble’s unique history with the audience through music. While highlighting classic compositions from the past century and showcasing the beautiful sound of the bandura, we also look to the future as we continue to develop new repertoire.”
With support from the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko, the UBC also plans to release an anthology of historic recordings from its rich discography.
During its 100 years, the UBC has preserved a 600-song repertoire consisting of works from pre-World War II, compositions and arrangements by Hryhory Kytasty and other composers, ranging from Christmas to folk to contemporary music, including instrumental songs for the bandura. The UBC has presented over 600 concerts in North America, Australia, Europe and Ukraine, including in venues like Carnegie Hall in New York, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Massey Hall in Toronto and the Kyiv Opera House.
As the UBC toured throughout multiple cities in North America, it inspired future generations of bandurists and choristers. Today, the members of the UBC live throughout North America, including in California, Nevada, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Virginia; over 40 percent of the members live in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.
The UBC works closely with other bandura ensembles and supports their artistic projects as part of the larger bandura global family. The UBC assisted the Ukrainian National Credit Union Association to procure bandura-related images for the annual UNCUA calendar. (Copies of the 2018 calendar are available at local Ukrainian American credit unions.)
To learn more about the UBC@100 Legacy Fund, or to consider a major gift to the UBC@100 Legacy Fund, UBC supporters are encouraged to visit www.UBC100.com or to contact Mr. Murha at 734-658-6452 or Ms. Loboyko at 647-504-4896, or e-mail [email protected]. To keep updated on UBC events, readers may visit www.bandura.org.