Winter Songs and "troista" instrumental music
with special guests SPIV-Zhyttya (Living.in.Song), a vocal ensemble based in Washington, along with well-known bandurist Julian Kytasty.

December 14, Sunday 2:30 PM

Where:     Ukrainian National Catholic Shrine of the Holy Family
                  4250 Harewood Rd. NE, Washington, DC 20017
Tickets:    $25/ $15 seniors and students; free for children under 12
Contact:   ukelivingsong@gmail.com or 215-776-1004

On Sunday, December 14 at 2:30 PM, the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine Library and Yara Arts Group will present “Koliada and Music from the Carpathians” at the Ukrainian National Catholic Shrine of the Holy Family in Washington DC.  The program features the Koliadnyky, a group of five men from the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine who sing traditional winter songs from the village of Kryvorivnia and play the brilliant “troista” instrumental music of the region.  Joining the performance will be SPIV-Zhyttya (Living.in.Song), a vocal ensemble based in Washington, along with well-known bandurist Julian Kytasty.

Yara's just released book, Still the River Flows: Winter Solstice and Christmas Rituals in a Carpathian Village by Virlana Tkacz with translations by Tkacz and Wanda Phipps, and photography by Alexander Khantaev, will be available for purchase and signing.

The Koliadnyky will follow their public concert on Sunday with a performance the next day at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. Their current tour also includes performances in New York, Philadelphia, Whippany NJ and Annandale-on-Hudson (Bard College). The Kolidanyky will take part in Yara’s new theatre piece “Winter Light,” at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York December 27 and 28. They were last in the US in 2012 and had sold-out performances in several cities. (Current press photos) See pictures from their concerts on facebook.

The Koliada is a winter ritual that now coincides with Christmas, but long pre-dates it in some parts of Eastern Europe. High in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Hutsul villages where the oldest songs are preserved, Koliada is considered to be the most important event of the year. Groups of male singers visit each family and sing ancient songs that are believed to hold special powers. According to tradition, spring and the harvest will not come unless the songs are sung in every household. 

Ivan Zelenchuk, is the lead singer or bereza. Now in his sixties, Ivan is the son of the man whose handwritten notebook of winter songs helped to preserve this tradition despite persecution under Soviet rule. Ivan considers the Koliada his personal mission. He met the members of Yara when they first visited the village in 2002 and has worked with them ever since. 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 ucostumes for the winter song singers. He has taken part in Yara productions and was featured in its "Still the River Flows," "Winter Sun" and "Midwinter Night" at La MaMa in NYC and at the Harbourfront Theatre in Toronto.

Mykola Ilyuk is a master fiddler and plays most traditional instruments. He is 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 "Midwinter Night," as well as all the Koliada events in 2010-2013. Vasyl Tymchuk plays the tsymbaly (hammer dulcimer) and teaches children to play Hutsul instruments. He has worked with Yara since 2010. Ostap Kostyuk plays the duda (bagpipes) and various flutes. He represents the newest generation that has become expert in this ancient tradition and was featured in Yara's shows in New York and Toronto.

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, including the tylynka. Yara has produced a CD Koliada: Winter Songs and Music from the Carpathians. For a sample with photographs go to: Instumental from the Koliada CD,

Yara Arts Group is a resident company at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York. A collective of artists of Asian, African, Latino, Eastern and Western European ancestry, Yara creates original work based on traditional material from often-overlooked Eastern cultures. Since 1990 they have made 30 original theatre pieces and hundreds of related events. Yara began its collaboration with the Koliadnyky in 2003. Photographs and video of the Koliada ritual have been exhibited at the RA Gallery in Kyiv, La MaMa's Galleria and the Ukrainian Institute in New York, Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs, Bezpala-Brown Gallery in Toronto and as a major art installation at the Ukrainian Museum in New York.

Yara's Artistic Director, Virlana Tkacz, directs the show. She has created 25 original theatre pieces with Yara at La MaMa, which have performed in theatres and festivals in Ukraine, Central Asia, Siberia, China and Canada. Born in Newark, NJ she has received the NEA Poetry Translation Fellowship, nominations for a New York Innovative Theatre Award and was named Honored Artist of Ukraine in 2007. Projections will be by Kyiv artist Volodymyr Klyuzko who was nominated for a NY Innovative Theatre Award for his work on Yara's "Raven."

Julian Kytasty is a third-generation bandurist. His music combines a mastery of traditional styles with a distinctly contemporary sensibility.  He lives in New York, and his collaborators include artists as diverse as Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man, Mongolian master musician Battuvshin, performance poet Bob Holman, pioneering klezmer revivalist Michael Alpert and composer/saxophonist John Zorn. He has worked with Yara since 1998 performing in such productions as “Scythian Stones,” “Raven” “Midwinter Night” and “Capt. John Smith Goes to Ukraine.”

SPIV-Zhyttya (Living.in.Song) was formed in Washington DC in 2011 and is comprised of 16 male and female singers who have performed at a wide range of venues. They were invited by the Ukrainian Embassy to sing at the 20th anniversary of Ukraine's independence at the Library of Congress in 2011. The a capella ensemble specializes in rarely heard gems of Ukrainian music, including folk songs as well as works by noted Ukrainian composers. 

This event is made possible by the Washington Group Cultural Fund, the Coca Cola Company, La MaMa Experimental Theatre and the friend of Yara Arts Group.

Translation of a Koliada or winter song
More photos of "Koliada & Music From the Carpathians" on facebook

Related Events in December 2014

Saturday Dec 6, 2014 at 7PM
Koliada and Music from the Carpathians
with special guests Crimean Tatars musicians and Julian Kytasty
Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th St, New York

Sunday Dec 7, 2014 at 1:30 PM
Koliada and Music from the Carpathians
with special guests Korinya, Max Lozynskyj and Julian Kytasty
UACCNJ, 60C N Jefferson Rd, Whippany, NJ

Thursday Dec 11, 2014 at 8PM
Koliada and Music from the Carpathians
with special guest Raphaelle Condo and Julian Kytasty
Bard College, Chapel, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Sunday Dec 13, 2014 at 7:30 PM
Koliada and Music from the Carpathians
with special guests Accolada Chamber Choir and Julian Kytasty
Ukrianian League, 800 N 23rd St, Philadelphia

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2014
Volodymyr Klyuzko’s “Carpathian Photo Patterns”
as part of La MaMa Family Show Exhibit- Opening with Koliadnyky
Dec 23-Jan 4 Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday 1:00-7:30 PM
La MaMa Galleria, 47 Great Jones St, NY lamama.org

Saturday- Sunday, Dec 27-28, 2014
Winter Light
with Koliadnyky and Yara Arts Group
La MaMa Theatre, 66 East 4th St, New York

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

List of Past & Present Related Events

Yara Arts Group
306 East 11th St., #3B
New York, NY 10003 USA

Phone: 212-475-6474
E-mail Virlana Tkacz at: yara@prodigy.net