Composer and conductor Zenoby Lawryshyn (b. 1943, Rudnyky, Ukraine, d. 2017, Toronto, Canada) came from a priestly family that left Ukraine during the Second World War. After several years in displaced persons camps in Austria and Germany, the family settled in Toronto in 1949. There he began private piano lessons with Lev Tyrkevych and Lubka Kolessa, before graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1961. In the mid-1960s he spent a year studying in Paris, before completing a degree in composition from the University of Toronto. Lawryshyn spent most of his career conducting Ukrainian-Canadian choirs, and as a result he composed primarily for voice and chorus, including 30 pieces for male chorus, two liturgies, a panakhyda, three cantatas and several song cycles for chorus. He also composed works for string ensemble, a string quartet, woodwind quintet and two piano trios. In addition, he arranged Ukrainian songs and carols for chamber instrumental ensembles.
Lagola Ivan is a public figure born in 1923, in the Zolochiv region of Western Ukraine. He passed away in Edmonton on November 14th, 2001. In 1943, he was arrested and sent to Nazi prisons and concentration camps (Zolochiv, Lviv, Birkenau, Auschwitz, Mattenhausen, Melk, Ebenze). On May 6th, 1945 he was released by American troops and lived in Germany until he moved to Canada in 1948. He lived in Edmonton and was a member of the Ukrainian Youth Association, secular Catholic organizations, the Committee of Ukrainian Political Prisoners.
Composer, conductor and bandurist Hryhory Kytasty (b. 1907, Kobeliaky, Ukraine, d. 1984, San Diego, USA) came from a peasant family. His childhood coincided with the First World War, the rise and fall of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, the rise of Bolshevism and the imposition of collectivization. He studied vocal and choral music at the Poltava Music College and choral conducting at the Lysenko Music and Drama Institute in Kyiv, where he also studied the bandura. He sang in the Kyiv Opera Chorus and in 1934 joined the Kyiv Bandura Cappella, which subsequently became the State Bandura Cappella. During the Second World War the Cappella made its way to Germany, and after several years in displaced persons camps, Kytasty emigrated to the United States and settled in Detroit in 1949. There he immediately founded the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, which he directed until 1958 and again from 1967 until his death. In 2008 he was named Hero of Ukraine posthumously. Kytasty composed more than 200 works, primarily for voice, chorus and bandura. In particular he was noted for the epic dumas he composed for male chorus and bandura ensemble.
Composer and pianist Larysa Kuzmenko (b. 1956, Mississauga, Canada) studied piano and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and composition at the University of Toronto. She began performing as a pianist in 1972, while still in high school. She has taught piano, music theory, harmony and music history through the Royal Conservatory of Music since 1981 and at the University of Toronto since 1989. Kuzmenko began composing in the late 1970s, and her works include three piano concertos, a cello concerto, a cello sonata, chamber music for string quartet, winds, brass, percussion and accordion, works for solo piano and organ, song cycles and choral works. She has been a frequent collaborator of the Vesnivka Choir of Toronto and her works on Ukrainian themes include In Memoriam: To the Victims of Chornobyl for solo piano, “A Journey to a New Life” for string quartet, the oratorio The Golden Harvest and “Holy God” for a cappella choir. She is married to composer Gary Kulesha.
Dmytro Kupiak (November 06, 1918, Yabloniwka village, Lviv Region, Halychyna - June 13, 1995, Toronto, Canada) was born in a family of Yuriy and Anna (nee Zdrazhil’).
In 1943, Kupiak graduated from the Institute for Trade in Lviv. In 1943-1945, he was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army. He immigrated to Canada in 1948 and settled in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1953, he got Canadian citizenship. The same year, 1953, Kupiak married Stefania Khorkava. In 1955, he and his family moved to Toronto, Ontario. In 1972, he ran for the election as a member of the Conservative Party. At that time, he was charged by the Soviet Union with committing war crimes.
Kupiak was a member of the Ukrainian Professional and Business Club, the Canadian Legion, the Knights of Columbus - Sheptytsky Council, the businessmen’s association “Queens-Tavern” and many others. He was the owner of the “Mayfair Inn” and a tavern in Toronto.
Sources:
“Купяк Дмитро.” Марунчак, Михайло. Біографічний довідник до історії українців Канади. Вінніпеґ: Українська Вільна Академія Наук в Канаді, 1986, p. 362-363.
Composer and conductor Gary Kulesha (b. 1954, Toronto, Canada) studied piano, music theory and composition at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He later studied composition with John McCabe in London and John Corigliano in New York. As a conductor he is largely self-taught. Kulesha has worked as composer in residence at the Stratford Festival, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company, and as composer-advisor to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Since 1991 he has been on the music faculty of the University of Toronto. Kulesha’s output includes three symphonies, concertos for violin, cello, winds and brass, numerous orchestral pieces, chamber works for strings, winds, brass and percussion, solo piano works, two operas, art songs, choral works and incidental music. He is married to composer Larysa Kuzmenko.
Kucher, Mykhailo Stanislaw (September 27, 1924, village of Chornokintsi Velyki near Chortkiv, Halychyna - March 31, 2007, Edmonton, Canada) was born to the family of Petro and Maria (Mniendzybrodzka - Мнєндзибродзка [Mendzydrocka???]) Kucher. Arrived in Canada in 1952.
In 1960, he was one of the founders and a secretary of the Edmonton Branch of the Brotherhood of Former Soldiers of the First Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army (Stanycia Bratstva kolyshnikh voiakiv Pershoi ukrainskoi dyvizii Ukrainskoi natsionalnoi armii v Edmontoni). Later on, he became the head of the Edmonton branch of the organization and held this position for 12 years. He was also the head of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Alberta Provincial Council. Worked as an electrical engineer.
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).
Composer Marian Kouzan (b. 1925, Isai, Ukraine, d. 2005, Fremont, France) moved to France at a very young age and began music lessons at the age of eight. In 1945 the entered the Paris Conservatory and graduated in 1948. He supported himself by taking various positions in the music entertainment industry and wrote music in popular music genres. Kouzan considered the 1960s to be the beginning of his composing career, which combined music for stage, and film and television soundtracks for the “show business” industry, as well as a wide variety of instrumental music for unusual combinations of instruments, with an emphasis on brass and percussion. Many of his works had Ukrainian themes, including the soundtrack to a documentary film about artist Jacques Hnizdovsky, the oratorios Neofity and Poslaniie to texts by Taras Shevchenko and the Chornobyl Requiem to a text by Vasyl Barka.
Nicholas Kostyniuk was born December 9, 1921 in Plain Lake, AB. His parents were Joseph and Annie Kostyniuk (Predyk). They married in 1917 in the old Plain Lake church and settled on a farm. They had four children: Mary, Nick, John and Tillie. Joseph died in 1938 at the age 44. Nick's older sister Mary married Peter Stepushyn in the fall of 1938. In 1946 Tillie married Alex Werbitsky of Innisfree. In 1949 John married Mary Chmilar of Two Hills and moved to farm in that area.
Nick contributed a great deal to running the household. He hurt his hip in an accident as a young man, causing a permanent limp. For this reason, he did not participate in the war. Nicholas taught at Plain Lake school for one year. He wrote and published poetry. He was active in the youth activities of his parish and was active in the Ukrainian Catholic church his whole life. In 1950, Annie and Nick moved to Edmonton. Two years later in 1952, Nick married Olga Soldan of Two Hills and settled in Edmonton. For a little while he owned a hat store on Whyte Ave close to 99 St. He worked at "Inland Cement" for over 25 years. Nick and Olga had two sons: Brent and Alan.
Annie lived in her home and kept boarders until early 1981, at which time she moved to the St. Basil's Senior Citizens' Residence in Edmonton. She passed away in March of 1975.