Winter Songs and "troista" instrumental music
with special guests Accolada Chamber Choir of Philadelphia

December 15, Saturday 7:30 PM

The Ukrainian League of Philadelphia,
800 North 23rd Street,
Philadelphia, PA
tickets: $20
(includes a $5.00 donation to  UNWLA orphans fund)
For tickets (215) 656.8521 (7am-3pm)
or isbilynsky@comcast.net

On Saturday, December 15 at 7:30 PM Yara will present Koliada and Music from the Carpathia at the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia. The Koliadnyky will sing traditional winter songs from the villages of Kryvorivnia and Verkhovyna. The event will also feature the brilliant troista instrumental music from the Charpathians. The Accolada Chamber Choir of Philadelphia will join the event as special guests.

The Koliada is a winter ritual that now coincides with Christmas, but is much older in origin and symbolism. The oldest winter songs are preserved in villages high in the Carpathian Mountains, where the Koliada is considered to be the most important event of the year. Some people believe that spring and the harvest will not come to the village unless the songs are sung in every household. The songs are incantations that assume the magical power of words: “what is said, will be so.”
Hutsul Koliada Ritual

Ivan Zelenchuk, is the "bereza," lead singer. He comes from an old Kryvorivnia family and is the son of the man whose handwritten notebook of winter songs has helped to preserve this tradition despite the persecution under the Soviet rule. Now in his sixties, Ivan considers his involvement in the Koliada his personal mission. He met the members of Yara when they first visited the village in 2002 and took part in Yara’s Koliada workshop in Kyiv and shows in New York, Philadelphia, and Saratoga Springs. Mykola Zelenchuk, the son of Ivan, proudly carries on the tradition of his forefathers, both as a winter song singer and the best trembita (mountain long horn) player in the village. He also makes the traditional costumes for the winter song singers. He has taken part in Yara productions and was featured in its Still the River Flows and Winter Sun at La MaMa in 2008 and 2010. 

Mykola Ilyuk is a master fiddler and plays on most traditional instruments of the Carpathians, including the trembita (mountain long horn). He is director of the renowned Hutsul instrumental ensemble and has his own museum of musical instruments from the area. He is the director of the renowned Hutsul instrumental ensemble and has his own museum of musical instruments from the area. He was the master fiddler for Yara’s Winter Sun and Koliada events in 2010. Vasyl Tymchuk plays the tsymbaly (hammer dulcimer) and teaches children to play Hutsul instruments. He has has worked with Yara since 2010. Ostap Kostyuk plays the duda (bagpipes) and various flutes and represents the newest generation that has become expert in this ancient tradition. He was featured in Yara’s Winter Sun and performed in the 2010 Koliada events.

Instruments played by the koliadnyky include: trembita – (Carpathian mountain horn) made of hollowed pine tree that has been struck by lightning and wrapped in birch bark. Trembitas are used primarily in the mountain pastures. In the villages they are only used during the koliada and at funerals. Fiddle -- played in the Carpathian style. The Musicians also play duda -- (bag pipe) made from a goat and tsymbaly -- (hammer dulcimer) and a variety of hand-made Carpathian flutes.

Virlana Tkacz directs the show. Projections will be by Mikhail Shraga and Volodymyr Klyuzko who were nominated for the New York Innovative Theatre Award for their work on Yara's Raven.

Yara Arts Group began its collaboration with traditional artists from the Carpathians in 2003, and has developed into performances in Kyiv, and New York, as well as theatre pieces Koliada: Twelve Dishes, Still the River Flows and Winter Sun at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. Photographs and video of the koliada ritual in the village of Kryvorivnia have been exhibited at the RA Gallery in Kiev, La Galleria and Ukrainian Institute in New York, Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs and a major art installation at the Ukrainian Museum in New York. Yara photographers Alexander Khantaev and Volodymyr Klyuzko have helped document this tradition.

These events were made possible by public funds from New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Self-Reliance (NY) FCU, The Coca Cola Company, La MaMa Experimental Theatre and Yara Arts Group’s numerous friends and donors.

Translation of a Koliada or winter song

Related Events in December 2012

Nov 17, 6:30 PM
Koliada with Nina and Tonia Matvienko
created by Yara with Shumka Dancers
Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton

Saturday, Dec 8, 7:30 PM and Sunday Dec 9 , 2:00 PM
Koliada and Music from the Carpathians
Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th St, New York
(212) 228-0110 www.ukrainianmuseum.org

Thursday, Dec 27, 7:30 PM
Friday, Dec 28, 7:30 PM
Saturday, Dec 29, 7:30 PM
Sunday, Dec 30, 2:30 PM
Midwinter Night: Koliada, Vertep and Malanka
La MaMa Theatre, 66 East 4th St, New York

About the Koliadnyky of Kryvorivnia

"In Search of the Hutsul Koliada of Kryvorivnia" by Virlana Tkacz


PAST EVENTS

Virlana Tkacz on the Hutsul Koliada and Yara Arts Group
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Oct 16, 2012

Yara Works with Hutsul Traditional Music
Ethno Club at Dzyga, Lviv, Sept 11, 2012

Koliada and Music from the Carpathians
at the Ukrainian Museum in New York, Dec 11, 2010
Twelve Dishes/Sviat vechir
at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York December 17 & 19, 2010
Festival of Traditional Song and New Interpretations of Ritual Food
Koliada winter songs, readings by poets and food artist Olesia Lew
Winter Sun a theatrical celebration featuring
Carpathian musicians and winter song singers from around the world
at La MaMa Experimental Theatre, New York Sunday Dec 26, 2010
Hutsul Music at Barbes, 376 9th St, Brooklyn, December 21, 2010
Hutsul Dance Party at Ukrainian Sports Club, 122 Second Ave, New York December 30, 2010
Bonfire a New Year's Celebration featuring Koliada Winter Song Singers
at the Rokeby Estate, upstate New York

Still the River Flows a theatrical celebration featuring
Carpathian musicians and winter song singers from around the world
at La MaMa Experimental Theatre, New York Dec 26-28, 2008 see pictures and reviews
Winter Sun: New Art and Tradition at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York December 19-21, 2008
Exhibit of works by contemporary artists, concert, readings by poets and new interpretations of ritual food, workshop in Hutsul music
Koliada and Hutsul Music at the Ukrainian Museum in New York, Dec 7, 2008
Koliada: Photographs by Alexander Khantaev at Spring Street Gallery, Saratoga Springs, NY Dec 17, 2006 to Jan 5, 2007
Workshop in Winter Song Singing with Koliadnyky, Alexis Kochan and Julian Kytasty in New York Dec 16, 2006
Koliada on Fifth Avenue Art and Music Festival and pictures and reveiws Friday Dec 19 8PM Exhibit opening: works of contemporary artists
at the Ukrainian Institute of America in New York December 15, 2006
Still the River Flows installation and concert Ukrainian League of Philadelphia, December 8-10, 2006
Koliadnyky in Concert at the Ukrainian Museum in New York, Dec 3, 2006
Still the River Flows installation at the Ukrainian Museum, reviews and photographs December 11, 2005 - February 6, 2006
Koliadnyky of Kryvorivnia in Concert at La MaMa Galleria March 16, 2005
Koliada: Winter Rituals photo exhibit and video installation at La MaMa Galleria January 15-23, 2005
Koliada: Twelve Dishes information on theatre piece, reviews and photographs at La MaMa ETC March 4-20, 2005
Koliada theatre workshop at Les Kurbas National Theatre Center, Kyiv, Ukraine December 4-5, 2004