Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America
Photo by Andrew Zwarych
Bio
The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America (UBC), which has its roots in pre-World War II Ukraine, acts as an ambassador of Ukrainian culture, music, and the bandura, a stringed instrument with historical ties to the region. Today, UBC members—residing mostly in Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania—regularly travel for rehearsals, performances, and other community-supported events.
The bandura is a lute-harp hybrid instrument with between 34 and 65 strings. The tradition of performing on the bandura with accompanying vocals harkens back to 16th-century Ukraine when a solitary musician, known as a kobzar, would travel the country performing this musical and oral tradition of epic song. At times, these singing minstrels were a threat to oppressive regimes as their repertoire included songs about Ukrainian history, morality, and contemporary issues which were shared with the people. In 1918, bandurist Vasyl Yemets united multiple individual performers to found the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus in Kyiv, Ukraine.
During political shifts in the Soviet regime in the late 1920s, bandura music was banned because of its religious, historical, and Ukrainian patriotic repertoire. Khotkevych, as well as many other bandurists, were executed by the Soviet authorities in the 1930s. Bandurists were also persecuted by the Nazis during WWII. After the war, the UBC musicians and their families remained refugees in Germany, unable to return to Soviet Ukraine for fear of persecution or death. In late 1948, American impresario Sol Hurok visited German refugee camps in search of talented musicians to sponsor for travel to the United States. At the same time, Detroit-based lawyer and Ukrainian American John (Ivan) Panchuk also traveled to Germany to observe conditions at the refugee camps. In 1949, Hurok and Panchuk joined forces to sponsor the entire ensemble’s immigration as one artistic unit. Most of the 17 families settled in Hamtramck, Michigan, where they lived and worked alongside existing Polish and Ukrainian immigrant communities.
Today the UBC is based in the Great Lakes’ Ukrainian diasporic community. The all-male ensemble consists of about 50 members between the ages of 16 and 70, including both bandura players and singers. They perform in traditional Ukrainian dress with the bandura players seated in front of the standing singers, who sing in Ukrainian.
The UBC performs in concerts and tours throughout North America, Australia, Europe, and Ukraine. The group has recorded more than 40 albums and discs of sacred and traditional Ukrainian music, as well as contemporary compositions. Since 1996 they have been led by artistic director Oleh Mahlay, an American conductor, bandurist and composer. In 2022, the UBC received the Michigan Heritage Award from the Michigan Traditional Arts Program.
Photo by Stefan Iwaskewycz