NEW RELEASE: Live concert CD by famed Kyiv Chamber Choir (06/05/05)

NEW RELEASE: Live concert CD by famed Kyiv Chamber Choir

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The Kyiv Chamber Choir, Ukraine's premiere a capella choir which since its founding in 1990 has earned international recognition as one of the outstanding chamber choirs in Europe, has recently come out with its first live concert CD recording.

Titled "Sounds of Kyiv," the CD was recorded for broadcast on CBC Radio by the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., during the choir's November 5, 2004, concert held in the George Weston Recital Hall at the Toronto Center for the Arts. The CD has been released by Toronto-based Dotcom Recordings.

Included in the recording are selections of sacred choral as well as Ukrainian folk music in choral arrangments performed by the Kyiv Chamber Choir as part of their first concert tour of Canada, which comprised 17 performances in 14 cities during November, 2004.

Under the direction of its founder, Mykola Hobdych, the 21-member choir has gained international renown for performing many of the best choral pieces found in Ukrainian music history combined with the highest level of professional performance.

The choir's repertoire, which features both sacred and secular music, focuses on restoring ancient liturgical Ukrainian music, while also being actively engaged in performing contemporary works of Ukrainian composers.

A recipient of numerous prizes at international choral competitions, including three grand prix awards, the choir consistently attracts sold-out audiences to concerts in Europe and Great Britain. To date, the choir's discography numbers 21 CDs.

Comprising "Sounds of Kyiv" are three sacred choral music works from various centuries: "God is With Us," Petro Turchaninov; "Resurrection Canon," Mykola Dyletsky; and "O Give Thanks Unto the Lord," Viktor Stepurko; as well as 11 choral arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs as represented by Anatoly Kos-Anatolsky and Mykola Leontovych, as well as such contemporary composers as Olha Budarina, Olexander Bondarenko, Heorhiy Chernenko, Hanna Havrylets, Maestro Hobdych, Myroslav Skoryk, Yevhen Stankovych and Volodymyr Zubytsky - who in their works often utilize modern musical tonalities to advantage.

"Sounds of Kyiv" is available, for $21.50 (shipping included) by calling Dotcom Recordings Inc., toll free, at (877) 232-9835; (416) 242-5052 (in Toronto); or by e-mail: info@dcbynet.net.

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Maestro Hobdych, a graduate of the Kyiv Conservatory, has worked throughout his career to preserve and promote Ukrainian choral music. Among his endeavors has been the establishment of a music library in Kyiv, as well as the initiation of a program to research and transcribe Ukrainian scores that have been lost or are not available in print, and to distribute recovered scores to choirs throughout Ukraine.

A graduate of the Kyiv Conservatory, he was choirmaster of the Revutsky National Men's Choir (1983) and the Dumka choir (1984), going on to found the Kyiv Chamber Choir in 1990. Since 1996 he has also served as director of the annual Kyiv of the Golden Domes Choral Festival. Maestro Hobdych, 44, is a laureate of five international choral competitions and a frequent adjudicator at such competitions.

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