Showing 170 results

Andriy Nahachewsky is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta. He holds a B.A. in Ukrainian Studies (University of Saskatchewan, 1979), a B.F.A. in Dance (York University, 1985), M.A. and Ph.D. in Ukrainian Folklore (University of Alberta, 1985 and 1991, supervised by Bohdan Medwidsky). He has an extensive background in Ukrainian dance, as a performer, instructor, choreographer, workshop leader, critic, adjudicator, and authour. He has taught a wide variety of courses at the university level in many aspects of Ukrainian and Ukrainian Canadian traditional culture. His research interests and publications deal with Ukrainian dance, Ukrainian Canadian identity, material culture, ethnic representation, and dance theory. He has conducted fieldwork in Canada, the U.S.A., Brazil, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Poland, and other countries. His most recent book is Ukrainian Dance: A Cross-Cultural Approach (McFarland Press, 2012).

Andriy served as the Director of the Peter and Doris Centre for Ukrainian and Canadian Folklore and Curator of the Bohdan Medwidsky Ukrainian Folklore Archives since their inception and until summer of 2016. Dr. Nahachewsky retired in the summer of 2018, but continues his research and actively participates in the international dance research community.

Dr. Bohdan Medwidsky was on the committee for Graham's dissertation.

Biographical note is coming.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Orest Soltykevych started his musical career having completed Royal Conservatory Piano up to the Grade 9 level. He continued his musical studies at the University of Alberta, and completed his Bachelor of Education with a major in secondary music.

Orest has been active with Ukrainian choirs since the age of 15, when he first accompanied the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir. He then joined that choir as a singer, and also sang in and accompanied the Dnipro Choir.

In 1984, Orest became the founding conductor of the Ukrainian Male Chorus of Edmonton, and continues to be its artistic director to this day. In 1986, Orest became the conductor of the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir, and led that ensemble for seven years. Orest was also conductor of the St Andrew's Ukrainian Orthodox Parish Choir for three years. As well, for the past five years, Orest has been the conductor of the Verkhovyna Choir

In recent years, Orest has sung with the Richard Eaton Singers, the Da Camera Singers, and the Kappella Kyrie Slavic Chamber Choir.

Orest served as a member and later as president of the Ukrainian Music Society for ten years. In 1999, he founded the radio program "Sounds Ukrainian" on radio station CJSR at the University of Alberta, and hosted the program for seven years. Currently, Orest hosts the classical music programs Saturday Breakfast and Sunday Breakfast on the CKUA Radio Network, which broadcasts throughout Alberta.

Five years ago, Orest retired from Edmonton Public Schools after 32 years of teaching and administration.

Roman Soltykewych was born on February 4, 1909 in the Village of Ulucz in the Lemko region of Western Ukraine (at that time in Austro-Hungary). His parents were Rev. Orest and Leontyna (née Min'kevych) Soltykewych. (The village was known for having been the location of the founding in 1860 of a choir by Rev. Mykhailo Verbyts'kyi, the author of the music to the Ukrainian national anthem.)

Roman Soltykewych completed gymnasium (high school) in Peremyshl', and went on to study music and conducting at the Lysenko Musical Institute in L'viv, and continued his musical studies in Krakow, where he conducted the students' choir.

Roman Soltykewych returned to his native Lemko lands where he conducted folk and church choirs. And because of his activities as a Ukrainian community activist, he spent time in Polish prisons. And during the Second World War, he also experienced persecution under the Nazi regime.

In 1944, when many were fleeing the Soviet occupation of Ukrainian lands, Roman Soltykewych spent time in Austria and eventually ended up in France, where the founded yet another choir.

in 1951, Roman Soltykewych arrived in Edmonton, and began conducting the choir at St Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral. And in 1953, he formed the Dnipro Male Chorus, which began with a small number of singers and eventually grew to be one of the finest Ukrainian choirs in Western Canada.

In 1955, Roman Soltykewych married Stephanie Derech, and they had three children - son Orest, and twin daughters Nadia and Vera.

For several years, Roman Soltykewych conducted the choir at St George's Ukrainian Catholic Parish, and from 1965 until his death he conducted the St. John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral Choir. During those years, he also founded and conducted the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada (CYMK) Choir.

In 1971, the Dnipro Male Chorus brought female singers into its fold, and became the Dnipro Choir, which had many performances with the Cheremosh Dancers, including a week of performances at Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington. Eventually, the Dnipro Choir became the 120-member Dnipro Ensemble, with orchestra and dancers.

In 1973, Roman Soltykewych was the recipient of the Alberta Achievement Award.

On November 17, 1976 Roman Soltykewych passed away at the age of 67.

Edward Kozak was born 26 January 1902, in Hirne, Stryi county, Galicia. Caricaturist, illustrator, and painter; feuilletonist, satirist, writer, and editor. He studies at the Vienna Art School (1917) and O. Novakivsky's art school in Lviv (1926), illustrated and edited the satirical periodical Zyz (1926-1933) and Komar (1933-1939) in Lviv, and illustrated the children's magazines Svit dytyny, Dzvinochok (1931-1939), and Iuni druzi (1933-1934) and the books published by I. Tyktor. At the same time, he painted and participated in the exhibitions of the Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists (1933-6) in Lviv.

Emigrating to Germany at the end of the Second World War, he founded the humor magazine Lys Mykyta (1948) and headed the Ukrainian Association of Artists (USOM). In 1949 he settled in the United States, where he worked in animated television films, receiving an award for his work from the National Educational Association in 1957. He resumed publishing Lys Mykyta in 1951, and exhibited his paintings in Detroit, Chicago, Buffalo, Toronto, Edmonton, and Hunter (New York). For a time he illustrated the children's magazine Veselka.

Kozak is best known for his satirical drawings and writings, which amount to a running commentary on political and social developments in the Ukrainian community for over half a century. His caricatures of J. Stalin, which were reprinted in the German, French, Italian, English, Dutch, Polish, and Yugoslavian press, are recognized classics in the field. Many of his paintings deal with folk motifs and display a light-hearted humor and expressive colors; eg, The Market, Sich, Old Inn, and Village. He has published two albums of drawings with witty captions: Selo (The Village, 1949) and EKO (1949). As a satirical writer, he has created the incisive peasant philosopher Hryts Zozulia, under whose name he has published two collections of humorous sketches: Hryts' Zozulia (1973) and Na khlops'kyi rozum Hrytsia Zozuli (According to Hryts Zozulia's Common Sense, 1982). He has written numerous feuilletons and verses under different pen names. Some of the verses are printed in the collection Virshi ironichni, satyrychni i komichni (Ironic, Satiric, and Comic Verses, 1959).

Pavlo Lopata was born in the village of Kaliniv [Pryashiv region], Slovak Republic on March 20, 1945. He studied at the University of Fine Arts in Bratislava from 1966-1968. In 1969 he emigrated to Canada and resided in Toronto. He obtained a Commercial Arts Diploma from George Brown College [1972] and a Fine Arts Diploma from the Ontario College of Art [1986]. From 1991 to 1998 he was curator and executive director of the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation. During this period he organized over 70 exhibits of many different artists from Canada, USA and Ukraine. To create art, Pavlo uses pencil, egg tempera, acrylics and oils. Themes of his works include portraits, wooden churches, icons, linear expressionism and surrealistic symbolism. He is also the author of over 350 articles related to the arts, culture and history, published in periodicals, journals and newspapers.

Over 1,000 of Pavlo Lopata's artistic works can be found in private and museum collections in Canada, USA, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Ukraine. He has held 29 solo exhibits and participated in over 80 group shows. Pavlo now lives and works in his private studio in a Ukrainian community "Poltawa" in Terra Cotta, located northwest of Toronto.

Olena Hlibowych was the artistic director of Verkhovyna Vocal Ensemble from its inception in 1952.

Helen Savaryn was a student in the UKR 422 course in the fall term of 1979. At the time, she was in the fourth year of her Bachelor of Education in Music degree.