The concert program featured Ukrainian musician Taras Zhytyansky, winner of the “Chervona Ruta,” “Slavic Bazaar,” “Taras Bulba,” and “Povstansky Play” festivals, and took place at St. Joseph the Betrothed Church in Chicago.
This was reported by Radio UA Chicago / Surma Newspaper.
The program featured Ukrainian historical songs, including haidamaka, Cossack, rifleman, and rebel songs, as well as contemporary works about current events in Ukraine. The program also featured compositions that, according to Zhytyansky, originate from Ukrainian tradition but are exclusively known as Russian-language songs. Zhytyansky combined these songs into a separate section called "Stolen Songs."
Some of the songs were accompanied by theatrical performances featuring students from Kateryna Grod's StarKids Modeling School. The students were dressed in outfits from the collections of Roksolana Prokopiv and Yuriy Soroka. The concert also featured the dance group Kyivski Parubky (Vyshyvanka Dance School), the Honored Artist of Ukraine Volodymyr Pushkar, and the host, Oleksandra Bodnar.
Ukrainian military personnel undergoing treatment and prosthetics in the United States with the support of the Revived Soldiers Ukraine Foundation also attended the event. Denys Slukhai, one of them, received financial support from the Brotherhood of Blessed Martyr Mykola Charnetskyi and the audience.
The concert had a charitable purpose; the funds raised went to support the Revived Soldiers Ukraine Foundation and the Heroes Protection Fund at St. Joseph the Betrothed Parish.
Taras Zhitinsky and students of the Elegy vocal studio performed the final song of the event.
Unfortunately, despite previous announcements of the event, the auditorium remained almost empty.
Author: Danylo Pievchev