History Text
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/4″][jellythemes_title]Our History[/jellythemes_title][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][jellythemes_content]The first choir group at The University of Saint Volodymyr was founded in 1843, only 9 years after foundation of the university, in 1834. The University choir was originally founded as a church choir, which later on became secular.
In 1859, the first choral concert took place at the university. In the middle of 19th century, the famous Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko and a writer Mykhailo Starytsky built up a student initiative group that performed Ukrainian folk music. In 1861-1866, numerous concerts took place performing folk music and even staging drama plays.
After 1876, when the Ems Decree (Ems Ukaz) banned Ukrainian language not only in writing, but also for staging, the choir continued to function as a church choir. In 1888-1892, Yakiv Kalichevskiy, who conducted the famous choir of Kyiv St. Sophia cathedral, and was a soloist of Kyiv Opera House, led the choir.
From 1908 to 1917, the the famous Ukrainian conductor and composer Oleksander Koshyts had conducted the choir. During this period, the University students’ choir presented more than 30 large concerts in Kyiv, having learned over 150 choral works by European and Ukrainian composers. Among them were songs and carols by Mykola Lysenko, Kyrylo Stetsenko and the conductor himself, Oleksander Koshyts.
In 1914, the composer Mykola Leontovych created the most popular choir arrangement of “Shchedryk”. On December 25, 1916, on Christmas Eve, the choir of St. Vololodymyr university premiered the famous “Shchedryk”, with himself composer Mykola Leontovych conducting.
In 1919, the choir conducted by Oleksander Koshyts headed on a tour to Western Europe. At the same time, the Ukrainian national government has fallen and Bolsheviks came to power. Oleksander Koshyts and some other chanters decided to stay abroad. In 1922, the chanters with their conductor moved to America. During almost 20 years they successfully performed in USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba.
In October 1922 the first recording of “Shchedryk”, performed by the choir, was held in New York.
In 1936, Peter Wilhousky, American composer and ethnic Ukrainian, rearranged the melody of “Shchedryk” with his new English lyrics, and so the Christmas carol became known worldwide as “Carol of the Bells”.
In 1939, the University was named after the famous Ukrainian poet and artist Taras Shevchenko. In 1964, the choir, led by Mykhailo Hardaev, was given an honorary title of national ensemble and named “Dnipro”. At that time, the choir is awardee and winner of various festivals and competitions in many republics of the former USSR. The repertoire of the choir traditionally included national and world classics, folk songs, modern choral music and liturgical works.
Professor Ivan Pavlenko, honored worker of Culture of Ukraine, was Artistic Director of Dnipro Сhoir from 1976 to 2009. Under his leadership, the choir had concerts in many cities in Ukraine, and abroad in Kaunas, Vilnyus, Tartu, Moscow, Minsk and others. Also a series of tours to Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Germany took place.
In 2005, Ivan Pavlenko founded the Department of Musical Folklore at the Institute of Philology of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and created the ensemble of folk singing “Roksolaniya”.
Starting from 2009, Dnipro Choir is led by Iryna Dusheyko. The choirmasters are composer Ihor Tylyk, and since 2015 – Yana Prokhorenko-Denhub.
During the last years the choir took part in numerous festivals and competitions in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Germany, France, Italy, and has released three audio albums. For the purposes of intercultural exchange, Dnipro Choir has organized series of artistic and cultural events with choirs from Germany, UK, Italy, Poland, and Lithuania.
Nowadays, the repertoire of Dnipro Choir includes works of national and world classics, liturgical choral works, Ukrainian folk songs and contemporary music.
To be continued…[/jellythemes_content][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]