Ukrainian Heritage Concert held at Sacramento area college (01/02/05)

Ukrainian Heritage Concert held at Sacramento area college

by Adriana Shmahalo

SACRAMENTO - A Ukrainian Heritage Concert was held on September 25, 2004, at American River College, during which Ukrainian music was showcased before students, professors and music lovers from the Sacramento area.

The event was made possible by the efforts of Dr. Steven Thompson, who is in charge of the Outreach Program and director of instrumental music at the college. The overfilled auditorium reacted with great enthusiasm to the musical offerings of the evening.

The program was diverse and very unusual at the same time, because the Ukrainian bandura, played by professional bandurist Ola Herasymenko was featured in all selections. The concert began with the Ukrainian String Ensemble, consisting of bandura - Ola Herasymenko, flute - Olha Shevchyk, first violin - Oleksandra Sokolovych, second violin - Alla Oleynik, viola - Victoria Klyushnik and cello - Yuriy Klyushnik, playing "The Blue Sky Melody," "On the Wings of Dreams" and "Mystery" of Oksana Herasymenko followed by "Picture for an Album" by Myroslav Skoryk. This portion of the program carried the audience into a very relaxed romantic atmosphere of beautiful tone colors and exquisite melodies.

Next came some of the most technically difficult solo bandura selections performed by Ms. Herasymenko, consisting of the "Barcarole" by Serhiy Bashtan, "Elegy" by Oksana Herasymenko and "Toccata" by Yuriy Oliynyk. Most students as well as professors from American River College were amazed by the technical and expressive capabilities of the modern concert bandura.

This particular bandura, incidentally, was custom-made by Prof. Vasyl Herasymenko, the father of the performer. It is a beautiful instrument with 65 strings and switches for changing tonalities that he designed after many years of research and a multitude of models that he built during his career.

After a brief intermission the program was completed with two concertos for bandura and symphony orchestra conducted by Dr. Thompson. Ms. Herasymenko, again, played the solo bandura part. Well-known violinist Ihor Veligan was the concertmaster.

The first concerto was by Dmytro Bortniansky. This concerto became a hit with bandurists, pianists and harpsichordists after its unexpected discovery in the Paris archives a few years ago. Full of vigor and youthful temperament, it is a delightful composition greatly admired by the audiences.

The second, Concerto No. 4 ("The Trypillian") by Mr. Oliynyk, who is also a professor of music at ARC, is already familiar to many listeners in Ukraine and the United States both from live concerts and recordings. It was inspired by the composer's fascination with the Trypillian Culture in Ukraine which dates back to 6000 B.C. This imaginative contemporary composition evokes many moods in the listeners and also demands advanced technical and interpretative skills from the performer. Ms. Herasymenko played both concertos with amazing ease and earned prolonged ovations from the diverse audience.

The following observations come from the reports that the students of Dr. Thompson turned in after the concert:

" ... additional guests kept arriving after 8 p.m. and found it difficult to find an empty seat. The house was full!"
"As the evening moved forward, I found the bandura a fascinating instrument. During one piece it sounded like a harpsichord; then during another song it sounded as though a piano was accompanying a harp."
I really enjoyed Saturday's performance mostly because of the quality of music, but also because of the culture. I had never seen a bandura. It reminded me of a Persian instrument a friend of mine used to play called the Santoor."
"The performance of the bandura with the American River Chamber Orchestra was the greatest element of the event. I loved hearing each instrument and the contribution the individual made to the unique sound of the orchestra."

Ms. Herasymenko has done much to promote the bandura among American audiences. Just recently, in November 2003, this reviewer had the opportunity to hear her performance of Mr. Oliynyk's 2nd Concerto "The Romantic" for bandura and orchestra with the West Hollywood Orchestra under the baton of Nan Washburn in Los Angeles.

Ukraine's national instrument, the bandura, never fails to amaze the listeners wherever they happen to hear it. This reviewer hopes to have many more opportunities to hear Ms. Herasymenko performing on her one-of-a-kind concert bandura - both in the U.S.A. and in Ukraine.

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