Program commemorates Holodomor’s 85th anniversary
CHICAGO – In commemoration of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago and the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA Inc. on Saturday, May 19, co-sponsored the North American premiere of “Ukrainian Requiem” composed by Yevhen Stankovych.
The program included soloists Nina Matviyenko and Stefan Szkafarowsky, the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus, actor George Wyhinny and the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America.
The commemorative concert was performed at the Harris Theater in Chicago, drawing an audience of over 1,000 people from across various ethnic groups in the Chicago metropolitan area and from other states.
The introduction and opening remarks were delivered by the Rev. Myron Panchuk, Ph.D., of St. Joseph the Betrothed Ukrainian Catholic Church, who is also vice-president of the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA. The Rev. Panchuk noted that, although anniversaries of the Holodomor were observed since 1948 and the current mission and objectives of the foundation were being realized since 1983, the foundation was officially established and registered in the state of Illinois through the efforts of its first president, Nicholas Mischenko, in 2002.
The Rev. Panchuk indicated that the idea of presenting the North American premiere of Maestro Stankovych’s “Ukrainian Requiem” was that of the foundation’s current president, Nicholas Kocherha, who had attended the premiere performance in Kyiv in 2006.
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The Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America on stage with Nina Matviyenko, Stefan Szkafarowsky, Andrew Kohler and the Kalamazoo Philharmonia and Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus.
The Women’s Bandura Ensemble
The program began with the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America (WBENA) under the artistic direction of Oksana Rodak-Lucenko and Oksana Zelinska. The ensemble performed a selection of works with the underlying theme of suffering and loss, depicting the deep religious devotion of Ukrainians to family and nation. In “The Wandering Orphan” (a song of the itinerant Ukrainian musicians known as “lirnyky,” arranged by Yakiv Yatsynevych), the tone for the evening was set with a most emotionally piercing delivery by 11-year-old Anastasia Lucenko singing the role of the orphan searching for her mother.
With their skillful ability in playing “Son, the Ducks are Flying” (Oleksander Bilash), WBENA members succeeded in moving the audience to a tearful experience as they portrayed a mother’s feelings of sadness and longing for her son as she awaits his return,
“Echo of the Steppes” (Hryhory Kytasty) brought to mind the tumultuous events that have played out on the fertile plains of Ukraine while depicting the co-existence of man and nature on the vast steppes, catching the essence of the breeze through the tall grasses.
Ms. Matviyenko, People’s Artist of Ukraine, accompanied the ensemble in singing “Across the Wide Field,” delivering a moving performance of this traditional religious song from the lirnyk repertoire. The piece pleads for God’s help in the nation’s hour of need, again eliciting a tearful moment among the audience.
A one-man play
For decades, the Soviet government vigorously denied and covered up the genocidal Famine. During the 1930s, Soviets cultivated foreign journalists to depict the Soviet government in positive terms by rewarding them with privileges and preferred access to Soviet dignitaries. Foreign journalists were required to remain in Moscow and were forbidden from entering Ukraine and the Northern Caucus areas. Most journalists complied, traveled outside of Moscow only if accompanied by Soviet officials and did not protest the limitations.
Stefan Szkafarowsky, bass soloist and narrator of the poem “A Requiem for Those Who Died of Hunger in 1921-1922, 1932-1933, 1946-1947” by Dmytro Pavlychko.
Walter Duranty of The New York Times was permitted into Ukraine and with deliberate deception reported that there was no starvation, only some crop failures. Some other reporters ignored the travel ban and reported on the Famine: Gareth Jones, Malcolm Muggeridge and W. H. Chamberlin among them.
Mr. Wyhinny passionately and skillfully enacted a scene from the play “Buried Truth,” in a “one-man play” that depicts the reporting of several journalists who deny the existence of death and starvation in Ukraine. However, the Soviets could not hide the truth from everyone. In 1931, Jones, a Welsh journalist, was offered a job to research and write a book about the Soviet Union. He toured the Soviet Union with H.J. Heinz II (of the food company dynasty) and produced a diary that probably marks the first time the word “starve” was used in relation to the Soviet collectivization of agriculture. On a subsequent trip to Ukraine, Jones reported on the horror that he witnessed there, and it was for this that he was likely assassinated in Manchuria.
“Ukrainian Requiem”
The second half of the commemorative evening was dedicated to the North American premiere of “Ukrainian Requiem: A Requiem for Those Who Died of Hunger in 1921-1922, 1932-1933, 1946-1947” by celebrated composer Yevhen Stankovych (set to the poem by Dmytro Pavlychko), which is dedicated to the victims of Holodomor. The work was performed by the Kalamazoo Philharmonia (Andrew Koehler, conductor) and Kalamazoo Bach Festival Chorus (Dr. Chris Ludwa, director) with Ms. Matviyenko and Mr. Szkafarowsky as soloists.
Mr. Stankovych is a recipient of Ukraine’s highest award for artistic creativity – the Taras Shevchenko State Award. From his first compositions, he declared himself a composer of dramatic temperament, not averse to emotional risk. His elaborate polyphonic textures and meditative lyricism are reminiscent of Baroque music, while the full-bodied effects with obvious post-romantic coloring give the music warmth and expressiveness. His music shows emotional freedom, consummate technical mastery and flexibility of form.
Ms. Matviyenko is a world-renowned Ukrainian singer, a People’s Artist of Ukraine. She, too, is a recipient of the Taras Shevchenko State Award. Her repertoire includes numerous folk songs, and she has performed in films and radio. Ms. Matviyenko was a soloist of the Ukrainian State Folk Choir for 25 years. She is currently a member of the folk trio Zoloti Kliuchi and performs with the Kyiv Camerata Orchestra and the Kostyantyn Chechenya Early Music Ensemble. In “Ukrainian Requiem,” Ms. Matviyenko performed the seventh movement’s soprano solo, which was composed expressly for her.
George Wyhinny enacts a scene from “Buried Truth.”
Mr. Szkafarowsky has been the featured soloist with numerous symphonies in the United States and Canada and is returning to the Metropolitan Opera to sing in “Madame Butterfly.” He is a recipient of the Tito Gobbi Award from the Rosa Ponselle Foundation. In “Ukrainian Requiem,” Mr. Szkafarowsky performed as the narrator – declaiming Mr. Pavlychko’s text – calling on all to remember those years of starvation, recalling work on the land and what it meant to Ukrainians.
In a special 40-page booklet prepared for the concert – which included information about the program, the performers and the Holodomor – the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago and the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA Inc. extended gratitude to all who attended, promoted, organized, staged and performed this 85th anniversary commemoration of the Holodomor.
The mission of the foundation is to research, teach, promote awareness, and advocate on behalf of the victims and survivors by telling the truth about this genocide, and numerous other acts of genocide on the Ukrainian people committed by imperial and Soviet Russia.
Maria Korkatsch-Groszko, Ph.D., and the Rev. Myron Panchuk, Ph.D., are executive board members of the Ukrainian Genocide Famine Foundation-USA, Inc.