Lawryshyn, Zenoby

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.