Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus

Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus (Українська капеля бандуристів ім. Т. Шевченка; Ukrainska kapelia bandurystiv im. T. Shevchenka). The beginnings of this chorus lead back to the Banduryst Kapelle founded in 1923 in Poltava, which was succeeded in 1935 by the Ukrainian State Exemplary Banduryst Kapelle (see State Banduryst Kapelle of Ukraine). In 1941 most of the ensemble members were incarcerated for several months by the German authorities. They were then reorganized into the Taras Shevchenko Ukrainian Banduryst Kapelle, and toured throughout Germany and the occupied eastern territories. After the Second World War the group remained in Germany, then emigrated en masse in 1949 to Detroit, Michigan. There the group members generally took laboring jobs and continued their choral activities part-time. The ensemble subsequently has toured throughout the United States of America, Canada, Western Europe, and Australia to considerable acclaim. It has also trained or recruited new members to replace the original core group, and issued numerous LP records. In 1991 the ensemble toured Ukraine.

For several decades the most outstanding member of the ensemble was Hryhorii Kytasty, who served as musical director, performing banduryst, and composer. The chorus has also been led by Volodymyr Bozhyk, H. Nazarenko, Ivan Zadorozhny, P. Potapenko, Volodymyr Kolesnyk, and Oleh Mahlay. The central place in the chorus’s repertoire is held by Ukrainian folk songs, particularly historical songs as arranged by Hnat Khotkevych, Mykola Leontovych, Kyrylo Stetsenko, Oleksander Koshyts, Kytasty, and others. (See Bandurysts.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Samchuk, Ulas. Zhyvi struny (Detroit 1976)
Wytwycky, Wasyl. Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus (Detroit 1976)

Wasyl Wytwycky

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]