Toronto's Vesnivka wins silver medal at Choral Olympics in Austria (10/08/00)

Toronto's Vesnivka wins silver medal at Choral Olympics in Austria

by Sonia Solomon

TORONTO - The year 2000 has been a busy and successful one for the Vesnivka Choir under the direction of Halyna Kvitka Kondracki. A second place at the biennial CBC Choral Competition in May served as a warm-up for the choir's participation in the first Choral Olympics held in Linz, Austria, on July 10-16. The competition drew 18,000 singers in 350 choirs from 60 countries participating in 28 different categories.

Vesnivka represented Canada in the largest category, Folklore a Cappella, which focused on folk choral works representing an ensemble's home country, language, area or cultural background. Competitors were allowed 15 minutes in which to perform an original folk song and three original compositions or arrangements.

Ms. Kondracki chose "Vesnianka," and "Little Cuckoo Bird" arranged by Vsevolod Lystopad, "A Young Maiden's Garden" arranged by Evhen Stankovych and "A Medley of Lemko Songs" arranged by Sophia Hryca. Choirs were judged on the difficulty of the compositions, choral sound, intonation and artistic impression.

In addition to competing, choir members had a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to hear some terrific choirs from places like Indonesia, Mexico, China and South Africa. Some choirs had to compete for the opportunity to represent their country at these Olympics. Vesnivka as well as other choirs were also invited to give performances in the Linz area. Vesnivka performed a selection of Ukrainian folk songs in the concert hall of the Linz City Hall.

After the close of the competition, the Vesnivka Choir traveled to the Czech Republic, where it performed at the Southern Bohemia Music Festival in Bechyne. A performance of Andrij Hnatyshyn's "Liturgy" was warmly received by the Ukrainian community of Prague at their parish of St. Klement.

Vesnivka finished off this tour with a performance of Ukrainian liturgical works at the historic Czech Orthodox Church of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Church in Prague. This church became famous during World War II as the hiding place of the paratroopers who assassinated Heydrich in 1942.

Vesnivka's 2000-2001 season has just begun, and it will be a busy one as Ms. Kondracki constantly seeks opportunities to bring Ukrainian choral music to new and diverse audiences.

On November 5 Vesnivka has been invited to perform with the Toronto Children's Chorus at St. James Anglican Cathedral. Audiences in Detroit and Chicago area will have an opportunity to hear the Vesnivka Choir in a concert of Ukrainian Christmas carols and "schedrivky" with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus under the direction of Oleh Mahlay.

To finish up the season, Vesnivka will perform with the Amadeus Choir under the direction of Lydia Adams in a program titled "Echoes of the East" at the Ford Center of the Performing Arts. Amadeus will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Vespers" and Igor Stravinsky's "Mass," while Vesnivka will present a selection of Ukrainian Easter liturgical and ritual compositions. The performance will allow Vesnivka to showcase the beauty of Ukrainian Easter music for mainstream choral audiences alongside Amadeus, one of Canada's best choirs.

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