NORTH PORT, Fla. – A concert of the well-known singer from Ukraine, Sofia Fedyna was hosted here on December 10, 2014, by St. Andrew’s Religious and Cultural Center (“Oseredok”) in North Port, Florida.
Ms. Fedyna was very active at the Euro-Maidan in Kyiv and Lviv and has appeared in concerts to benefit the families of the fallen. Currently her benefit concerts in U.S. are aimed to aid the Ukrainian soldiers fighting the “separatist” forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine.
The theme of Ms. Fedyna’s concert was “Ukraine Today,” and her beautiful voice was heard against the visual background of scenes of protest on the Euro-Maidan in Lviv. Her energy and enthusiasm captured and fascinated her listeners.
Ms. Fedyna’s background was presented by Vira Bodnaruk, who introduced her to the receptive audience. She started her singing career at a very early age and appeared in concerts as a child in France, Germany, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. She studied piano, in addition to voice, and was fortunate to have been a student of Lesia Solistra. She later worked with the prominent Lemko artist Maria Baiko. Together they prepared two of Ms. Fedyna’s albums: one of Christmas carols and New Year’s songs (“Ide Zvizda Chudna”) and one of Lemko songs (“Tam pid Horom…”). A third album of UPA songs was released on the centenary of the birth of Stepan Bandera (“Bude Nam z Toboyu Shcho Zhadaty”). Her fourth album “Chervena Ruzhychka” is a collection of Lemko songs.
Ms. Fedyna studied English from an early age and majored in international relations at Lviv National University. She defended her Ph.D. on the subject of international peace and is currently a faculty member at Lviv University.
The audience at Oseredok gave Ms. Fedyna a prolonged standing ovation. Ukrainian American Veterans Post 40 and the executive board of Oseredok presented her with donations for the soldiers of Ukraine. There were also individual donations from the audience, which Ms. Fedyna gratefully accepted.
Ms. Fedyna’s concert in North Port was sponsored by the board members of Oseredok and Anna Mariani.