VOCAL WORKSHOPS

2019

Saturday, December 7, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM at Playwrights Rehearsal Studios, New York, NY

In this workshop we learned songs from Koliada rituals that celebrate the winter solstice, Christmas, and the new year. This was a rare opportunity to learn ancient regional songs directly from practicing experts. The Koliadnyky hail from a Ukrainian village in the Hutsul region of the Carpathian Mountains.

During the time of this visit, they also appeared in productions by Yara Arts Group under the direction of Virlana Tkacz.

The Koliadnyky performers:

• Ivan Zelenchuk, bereza and lead singer

• His son, Mykola Zelenchuk, singer and trembita (mountain long horn) player

• Group director Mykola Ilyuk, fiddle and folk flutes

• Vasyl Tymchuk, tsymbaly (hammered dulcimer)

• Ostap Kostyuk, goatskin bagpipes

Sunday, November 17, 2:30-4:30 PM at Playwrights Rehearsal Studios, New York, NY

In this vocal workshop, we learned specific regional features of the traditional singing style of the Podillya/Dnister river valley region. Iryna taught different genres of folk songs, including ritual, religious, historical, and lyrical from various time periods. The polyphony in these particular folk songs is not as well developed as in other regions of Ukraine, but the harmonies are very unique and quite remarkable.

Iryna has sung with the folk ensemble Ladovytsi in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine. Since 1992, the group has made numerous trips to remote Podillya region villages, where members gathered a variety of folk songs. This area is found along the Dnister River in Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsya and parts of Odesa, where the remains of the ancient Trypillya and Chernyahivska cultures are found.

About this workshop leader:

Iryna Voloshyna is a folklorist-practitioner, performer and a young scholar.

She has sung with "Ladovytsi" in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, since 2007. The group's aim is not only to perform traditional Ukrainian songs in an authentic manner, but also to collect them during field research, to study the calendar traditions of Podillya, and to organize folklore festivals, seminars and more. Together with Ladovytsi, Iryna participated in numerous festivals and cultural events in Ukraine, Lithuania, and Georgia.

During 2014-2016, Iryna was a Head of the NGO “Podillya Traditions Revival” in Khmelnytskyi, with whom she organized several regional and one international folk festival in this city. She has also attended the School of Traditional Music in Kyiv.

A Fulbright Fellow, Iryna earned her Master’s degree in Folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has led Ukrainian folk singing workshops in Chapel Hill, New York and Ontario.

Sunday, October 20, 3:30-5:30 PM at Playwrights Rehearsal Studios, New York, NY

These songs originate from an ethnic territory inhabited by Ukrainians, but not within modern Ukraine. Its geographic region is in southern Russia on the bank of Black Sea, surrounded by the Kuban River. This area holds many cultural, linguistic, and historical ties with Ukraine. We joyfully learned three humorous songs from this region, along with a surprise appearance of the Kuban Cossacks of Howell, NJ and folklorist-singer Alina Kniazikevych.

ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP LEADER:

Beginning in 2005, Ihor joined Drevo's ethnographic expeditions in search of examples of traditional culture in Ukrainian villages.
Ihor is a graduate of Kyiv National University of Fine Arts and Culture with a degree in Musical Arts specializing in Folk Music. In addition to Drevo, he has participated in several groups such as Kralytsia, Krosna, Strila and Chornomortsi. Ihor also periodically teaches traditional Ukrainian songs and was also one of UVV's Ukraine trip organizers (summer 2018).

Sunday, July 28, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY

Click here for a short video clip of our fun summer workshop!

Prospect Park Alliance and the Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC) presented the Brooklyn Roots Festival. This folk arts festival, took place in the Children's Corner of Prospect Park celebrating Brooklyn’s traditional artists and immigrant communities through a daylong schedule of performances, workshops, interactive family activities, and more.

A segment of Ukrainian Village Voices singers happily taught a few spring songs called Vesnianky. For thousands of years, these joyous, playful songs have been sung in open, outdoor spaces to bring blessings and encourage the new season to flourish. Our favorite one to teach that day was a humorous children's song about dressing up a goat in various costumes!

We had a lovely time teaching these songs with props and instruments, making sure everyone had lots of fun.

Thursday, June 27, 6-8 PM at the Sheepshead Bay Branch Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn, NY

Ukrainian Village Voices presented "Songs for Celebration!" a free and dynamic vocal workshop in traditional polyphonic harmony singing from the villages of Ukraine.

In this special workshop, members of UVV taught ritualistic and celebratory songs for weddings, the summer solstice, and more. As we transitioned from the buds of spring to the full blooms of summer, we rejoiced through song for all that the earth and life gives us.

This was an event for all ages and any singing experience.

Saturday, June 22, 6-10 PM in Bethlehem, PA

Ivana Kupala (Івана Купала) is the celebration of the summer solstice in Eastern Europe. It connects pre-Christian pagan fertility rites with the Christian feast of St. John the Baptist, hence the name Ivana Kupala (John bathing). Ukraine, in particular, has a litany of rituals and songs that are shared and sung on this supernatural night.

On this night we sang together and taught songs in conjunction with their respective ritual acts such as wreath-weaving, bonfire-leaping, dancing, and more! It was an unforgettable night!

UVV was absolutely thrilled to lead this celebration in Bethlehem, PA.

Saturday, May 4, 6:30-8:30 PM at Playwrights Rehearsal Studios, New York, NY

We learned incredible lyrical Ukrainian love songs in the traditional polyphonic style of central and eastern Ukraine. Marichka has spent years traveling on expeditions to record songs from the oldest villagers for posterity. These songs are over a hundred years old and have tremendous power, as they are derived from very emotional, heartbroken personal stories. Marichka focused on teaching us beautiful and challenging multi-part harmonies.

About this workshop leader:

Marichka is a musician, folklorist, historian of classical Eastern European music, singer, teacher, journalist, and civil-activist. She created the folk opera Zemlya/Earth, directs the Kalendar folk group in Toronto, sings in Lemon Bucket Orkestra, and is a musician in and co-creator of Balaklava Blues. Marichka was also the co-creator of and singer in Kyiv's national folk ensemble Bozhychi with whom she traveled to rural villages across Ukraine, recording the old songs for posterity. She has performed at countless festivals around the world, and received several prestigious nominations and awards, including Amnesty International's Freedom of Expression Award for her co-creator and musical director role in Counting Sheep: A Ukrainian Folk Opera.

Sunday, April 14, 1-3 PM at Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, Brooklyn, NY

As we celebrated the first signs of spring, Ukrainian Village Voices led a Children’s Vocal Workshop featuring Ukrainian spring songs called vesnianky. For thousands of years, these joyous, playful songs have been sung in open, outdoor spaces to bring blessings and encourage the new season to flourish. Members of UVV taught a small group of 5 to 6-year-old children simple Ukrainian spring melodies in a fun-filled workshop that included props, costumes, games, and movement.

Together, we called for fresh green grass, blooming flowers, budding trees, and warm weather!

Sunday, March 31, 4:30-6:30 PM at Playwrights Rehearsal Studios, New York, NY

In this workshop, Eva Salina delved into adaptive technique for singers interested in exploring a variety of sounds and textures by using fragments of songs from the various repertoires of Poltava and Polissia.

This was not a song-learning workshop. Instead, emphasis was placed on healthy, sustainable, and comfortable ways to sing Ukrainian village songs without strain or injury. Our time together was spent cultivating a broader spectrum of timbres in our individual voices as well as in our ensemble singing, and included small group and individual work. Rather than aiming for “one ideal sound”, we focused on how language and vocal placement can enhance the sound of our unique voices within the parameters of Ukrainian singing styles. 

About this workshop leader:

Eva Salina is a seasoned, passionate, and effective vocal instructor adept at modeling and deconstructing traditional singing styles from both a technical (functional) and culturally-specific aesthetic perspective. Eva has spent 28 years immersed in a variety of Slavic musical traditions and cultures. With particular expertise in Balkan vocal traditions, she has also participated in Ukrainian vocal traditions over the last 18 years. Traveling in Ukraine with Mariana Sadovska in 2005 on a musical research trip, Eva visited and studied with the legendary singers of Kriachkivka, Stari Koni, Svarytsevychi, Havronshchyna, and others. In 2011, as one of the singers in Ensemble Hilka, Eva studied intensively with acclaimed ethnomusicologist Yevhen Yefremov. Eva has also learned a great deal about Ukrainian music from Maria Sonevytsky, her collaborator in Zozulka Trio, and continues to engage with Ukrainian traditions with her good friends of Kosa Kolektiv at Folk Camp Canada. Eva tours as a duo with accordionist Peter Stan, and is musical director of The Jalopy Chorus, in addition to her ongoing work with various vocal ensembles and workshops in NYC and abroad. For more information about Eva: www.evasalina.com.