Renowned Maestro Wolodymyr Kolesnyk is interred in Kyiv (09/20/98)

Renowned Maestro Wolodymyr Kolesnyk is interred in Kyiv

by Halia Talpash Wawryshyn

KYIV - Wolodymyr Kolesnyk had been the former principal choirmaster, conductor, artistic director and general director of one of the largest theaters in the world - the Taras Shevchenko State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet (the Kyiv Opera Theater).

After his death in Toronto on November 7, 1997, two panakhydy (memorial services) were held in Toronto, however, Mr. Kolesnyk's wife, Hanna, decided that it would be most fitting for the formal funeral of Mr. Kolesnyk to be held in Kyiv.

Born in 1928 in Dnipropetrovsk, Mr. Kolesnyk graduated with distinction from Kyiv's Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in 1952, after having completed a conducting course under Prof. Hryhorii Veriovka. While still a young man, in 1954 he was appointed chief choirmaster of the Kyiv Opera Theater's chorus, which consisted of nearly 100 singers.

Due to political pressure, he left his illustrious musical career in Ukraine and in 1973 went with his family to Australia and later to Canada, where he became conductor of the Ukrainian Opera Chorus in Toronto. In addition, he often conducted the Dnipro Choir of Edmonton, and for 10 years conducted the Ukrainian Bandura Ensemble of Detroit. He held workshops every summer for over 20 years in order to train over 200 musical conductors in North America.

The day of the funeral in Kyiv was a warm spring day and the casket lay in the upper gallery of the Kyiv Opera Theater surrounded by flowers and flanked by a large photograph of Maestro Kolesnyk.

Since Maestro Kolesnyk's work of Mr. Kolesnyk in North America is not well known in Ukraine, on the initiative of Toronto Lysenko Opera Chorus President Valentyna Kuryliw it was decided to have a display on a standing board of all the posters from various concerts and operas that were staged under Mr. Kolesnyk's direction in Canada and the U.S.

Numerous pictures of the maestro at work with the Toronto and Edmonton choruses and with various symphony orchestras were displayed in a case. A standing board also displayed pictures of the maestro throughout different stages of his career, both in North America and in Ukraine. As people came up the stairs of the exquisitely decorated opera building, they first encountered these displays, a testimony to the prodigious work and contribution of Mr. Kolesnyk in Canada, the U.S. and Ukraine.

In groups of four, people with armbands took turns standing on either side of the casket, a vigil of respect for the deceased maestro. People began arriving at 11 a.m. but it was not until 1 p.m. that the formalities of speeches and eulogies began. During these two hours, numerous musical pieces were beautifully rendered by a string quartet composed of opera musicians. A choir of singers from the Kyiv Opera Theater chorus sang works by Taras Shevchenko such as "Dumy Moyi" and "Zapovit" in a manner so excellent that it would have made the maestro proud.

Speeches were made by dignitaries of the Kyiv Opera Theater and a poem, "Maestro," in honor of Mr. Kolesnyk was read by the Ukrainian poet Mykhailo Tkach. The event was attended by many guests, such as the renowned writer Ivan Dzyuba, and other speakers including Anatolii Mokrenko, current director of the opera theater, Lesia Dychko, a well-known composer and secretary of the Union of Composers of Ukraine, and Ms. Kuryliw.

After the speeches at the Kyiv Opera Theater, the funeral party made its way by buses to the Baykiv Cemetery on the outskirts of Kyiv, where many luminaries such as writer Lesia Ukainka, historian and political leader Mykhailo Hrushevsky, and composer Mykola Lysenko are buried. At the site where Mr. Kolesnyk would be laid to rest, a large memorial stone had been erected. At the gravesite speeches were delivered by Maria Dytyniak, conductor of the Dnipro Choir of Edmonton; Mykhailo Stepanenko, president of the union of Composers of Ukraine; and Ivan Hamkalo, one of the conductors of the Kyiv Opera Theater. As the coffin was laid to rest all present sang "Vichnaia Pamiat."

Following the funeral service at the cemetery, mourners returned to the opera house where the "tryzna" was prepared for the guests. An impassioned speech by Mrs. Kolesnyk and remarks by Canadian Ambassador Christopher Westdal, translated into Ukrainian by Cultural Attaché Roman Waschuk, were offered.

Maestro Kolesnyk, who in 1969 held one of the most prestigious posts in the Ukrainian musical world as the Kyiv Opera Theater's general and artistic director, was laid to eternal rest in his beloved city. Under his direction nearly 900 talented people worked and mastered over 80 operas of both classical and modern composers. The Soviet repressions in Ukraine in the 1970s indirectly gave Ukrainians in North America a gift, and in having had Maestro Kolesnyk, the Ukrainian cultural scene has been forever enriched. The musical seeds that he so aptly planted are sure to grow for many generations.

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