As the 2022 anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches, Ukrainian scholars are collaborating with Indiana University students and faculty to host “Ukraine Week at IU” events. This collaboration has created many opportunities for student learning.
Ukrainian language students in senior lecturer Svitlana Melnyk’s class helped translate the song’s text into English for the performers and audience. Photo courtesy of Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies
The concert “Art Songs of Ukraine” is the centerpiece of the week and will feature performances by Ukrainian composers and vocal students from the IU Jacobs School of Music, directed and accompanied by Professor Alan Armstrong. The concert will be held on February 18th at 3pm in the Simon Music Center’s Ford Crawford Hall and will also be livestreamed.
Halina Goldberg, director of the IU Hamilton Lugar School of International Studies Robert F. Burns Russian and Eastern European Institute, said scholars from the IU Ukraine Non-Resident Scholars Program were instrumental in getting the concert started. Through this program, scholars will continue their research in Ukraine while also contributing to IU’s academic community.
“Through the research of Professor Irina Tukova, a non-resident scholar, I learned about the emotionally powerful musical responses of Ukrainian composers to the war,” said Goldberg, who is also a professor of musicology. . “Especially now, when the Ukrainian people are valiantly fighting for their sovereignty, it is imperative that we take the time to learn about the richness of not only Ukrainian music, but Ukrainian art more broadly.”
Non-resident scholars are supported by the Robert F. Burns Institute of Russian and Eastern European Studies, and this year two are supported by the Jacobs School of Music. The scholars collaborated with the co-sponsors of Ukraine Week, the Department of Slavic and Eastern European Languages and Cultures, and the Institute for Ukrainian Studies.
Irina Jahodinska, an associate professor at the Kharkov Kotlyarevsky State University of Arts, helped find the sheet music for the concert. She said it is significant that most of the songs in the concert will be performed by the Jacobs School of Music for the first time in Bloomington, Indiana.
“It is important for Ukrainian art music to win the stage and gain new listeners and performers, especially now that we are fighting for our freedom in many ways,” Yahodzinska said.
Irina Tukova, associate professor of music theory at the National Academy of Music of Ukraine in Kyiv, helped select the composer and repertoire for the concert.
“For me, the Ukrainian Art Songs project represents a very impactful step in supporting the motherland,” she said. “Any cultural project aimed at disseminating Ukrainian culture, especially music, means a new global attitude and understanding of our country and its people.”
Tukova said one of the most important aspects of the concert for her was the participation of IU students.
“This concert provides young performers with an opportunity to explore different cultures, discover new music and incorporate new pieces into their repertoire,” she said. “A special thank you to instructor Zachary Coates for providing this opportunity for her students.”
Maria Fokina, PhD candidate in musicology, spearheaded concert preparations and worked closely with non-resident academics.
“Dr. Tukova and Dr. Jahodzinska provided input on all aspects of the project,” Fokina said. “They are not only experts in the field of Ukrainian music, but also offer new ways to think about the richness and diversity of Ukrainian musical culture.”
In addition to planning concerts, Fokina is writing program notes and preparing to teach a Ukrainian art song class to Jacobs’ students in Coates’ song literature course.
Students also had the opportunity to learn the Ukrainian language dictionary with the help of Ukrainian-American vocal coach Ksenia Porstyankina Barad. Polustiankina Ballad, a member of the music staff at the San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, was scheduled to come to IU in February as a diction coach to prepare Jacobs School students for the opera “Eugene Onegin.” .
“There is a lot of beautiful music out there that has been deliberately destroyed to support imperialist narratives,” she says. “I am honored to have discovered this repertoire myself and to help others become familiar with this music.”
The concert also provided opportunities for students at Hamilton Lugar School. Ukrainian language students in senior lecturer Svitlana Melnyk’s class helped translate the song’s text into English for the performers and audience.
“I was amazed at the challenge of trying to convey the flow and nuances of the Ukrainian language in English,” said Aaron Kennett, one of Melnyk’s graduate students. “This was a lovely challenge and a great way to continue celebrating Ukrainian life.”
Kennett is studying the language for his job at an international development consulting firm.
“My academic and professional interest in Ukraine spans a nearly seven-year record of interaction with and support for international development programs in Ukraine,” Kennett said. “In 2017, I received a Fulbright Award to teach English in Sumy, Ukraine. Since then I have basically been involved in everything from economic resilience in eastern Ukraine to helping design and implement decentralization reform programs. We have been working on various initiatives and programs related to Ukraine.”
Graduate student Elijah Kelsey also helped with translation. Kelsey continues her research in Russia and Eastern Europe, with a focus on community development and humanitarian assistance in Ukraine.
“I think it’s important for students like me to know not only the language and history of Ukraine, but also its culture, literature and art,” Kelsey said. “By studying these things and helping translate them for an American audience, we can help them understand why Ukrainians have been fighting for their freedom for so long.”
As concert planning was finalized, Goldberg expressed his gratitude to everyone involved and to Katherine Compton, managing director of the Jacobs School Opera and Ballet Theater.
In addition to the concert, Ukraine Week will include a film screening of “Ukraine’s Stolen Children” on Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in Shreve Auditorium at Hamilton Lugar School. A poster exhibit about the Holodomor, the 1932-1933 genocide in Ukraine, will open at 3:30 p.m. on February 23 in the southwest classroom building on the first floor of Hamilton Lugar School.
The Indiana Slavic Choir will perform Russian and Eastern European folk songs at the opening of the poster exhibit. The choir, whose members are IU students and faculty, has continued to grow since its founding in 2021 and performs at IU and other universities.
Instructor Melnyk, who is also a member of the choir, said one song in particular that will be performed is meant to evoke hope.
“This song has great harmonies, and the five parts intertwine into one powerful song,” she said. “It’s about a soldier who goes to the army and asks his mother not to cry. It’s a very moving song that reflects the current situation. Every time we sing this song, Ukrainian songs are one of the things that keep our spirits alive. I feel like it’s one.”