Mykola Kolessa inducted into Academy of Arts (04/05/98)

Mykola Kolessa inducted into Academy of Arts

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Lviv composer and doyen of Ukrainian music Mykola Kolessa was recently inducted into the Academy of Arts of Ukraine as a full member of the academy. The ceremony took place on December 2, 1997, at the academy building, with Andrii Chybykin, academy president, officiating.

He was honored along with composer Yevhen Stankovych (1942-), one of the central figures of contempoeary Ukrainian music. (See The Weekly, November 16, 1997 issue.)

Prof. Kolessa is the second member of the distinguished Kolessa family upon whom this honor was bestowed. In 1929 Prof. Kolessa's father, the composer and well-known Ukrainian folklorist Filaret Kolessa (1871-1947), was similarly honored by being elected a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

Among the numerous congratulatory messages, received by Prof. Kolessa in connection with the event, were greetings from the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S.A., which read: "We hold you in great esteem both as composer and conductor. Your books, articles and memoirs, as well as professional and pedagogical work have served researchers of different generations and are an important contribution to the field of music and as such, to raising the prestige of Ukraine throughout the world."

The 94-year-old Prof. Kolessa is distinguished professor emeritus at the department of opera and symphony conducting at the Mykola Lysenko Lviv State Music Institute. His music is widely performed throughout the world.