Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

under Soviet and Nazi
regimes, in 1949 some
17 members of the allmale
Ukrainian Bandurist
Chorus immigrated to
the United States.” Many
established a home base
in Detroit and Cleveland,
where they continued to
perform the UBC repertoire
of four-part songs
– tenor I, tenor II, baritone,
bass – accompanied
by banduras in
several ranges.
“In North America, the
UBC carried the torch
for songs with lyrics that
were banned under Soviet
rule,” continued Sklierenko.
“We carried on Ukrainian historical and religious traditions free of
the censorship that made it impossible in the homeland at the time.”
An active member of UBC since 1990 when he was just 13, Sklierenko
pointed out that Canadians of Ukrainian descent have played key and
very early roles in the group, “perhaps ever since the Chorus’ first
Toronto performance on October 22, 1949.”
The UBC “has performed in Massey Hall several times since the
1950s,” added Sklierenko, so the upcoming 97th anniversary concert
on October 24 is somewhat of a homecoming – with a special twist.
Joining the Chorus on stage will be Ruslana, the 2004 Eurovision
Song Contest and World Music Awards winner, an artist who can
boast the best selling Ukrainian album ever, the 2003 Dyki Tantsi
(Wild Dances). This remarkable singer, songwriter, producer, musical
conductor and dancer also served as a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament
and is an internationally recognized social activist. In 2013 and
2014 she played a prominent role in the pro-EU Euromaidan movement.
Beley, a current bass bandura player with UBC, told me that
Ruslana “will perform her pop hits at Massey Hall before joining
forces with us in Ukrainian songs in our repertoire.”
In previous columns I’ve written about several other Toronto
ensembles with proud Ukrainian roots. The activist communityminded
women’s Kosa Kolektiv, and the self-proclaimed “Balkanklezmer-gypsy-party-punk-super-band”
Lemon Bucket Orkestra,
presently winding up its international tour, come readily to mind.
Sklierenko knows them well. “Playing a core role in community
building and also on an official international level, the UBC represents
the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and in the U.S.A. In addition we are
eager to reach out to both bandurist and non-bandurist groups like
Kosa and Lemon Bucket. I see great potential for synergy here.”
I asked why the bandurist choruses are all male. Were they
consciously modelling themselves on the practices of the earlier,
exclusively male, kobzar troubadours? “Interest among Ukrainian
women in taking part in the bandurist tradition has been steadily
building,” noted Sklierenko. “In fact there’s an all-women’s North
American bandurist chorus being formed right now.”
As co-chair of the UBC’s 2018 centennial anniversary celebrations,
Sklierenko laid out the group’s ambitious three-part plan to
reconnect with the homeland and to ensure the continuation of the
bandurist legacy. These include “a Ukrainian tour, a fund to fuel R&D
and to pass on the craft of bandura building, and an educational
component including workshops.” The latter category also includes
support for UBC’s summer camps in Pennsylvania, since 1979 the
central site for passing on bandurist traditions and recruiting new
talent. Partly reflecting the success of the camps, today the majority
of UBC members are second and third generation Americans and
Canadians, all of them volunteering their time to further the mission
of the ensemble.
The evidence of the UBC’s plans, and of the passion and commitment
to pursue them, all points to the bandurist performance legacy,
Krar Collective
sparked nearly a century
ago in Ukraine, surviving
well-rooted in the diaspora.
The legacy also
appears well-positioned
to be passed on to future
generations of performers
in both North Americans
as well as in its threatened
land of origin.
Small World Music
Festival: The 14th annual
iteration of Small
World’s signature fall
Music Festival runs until
October 4 this year. Its
ambition is no less than
to “capture the world in a
ten-day festival.” This year
it brings international and
Canadian performers representing music from Mali, Korea, Cuba,
Ethiopia, Palestine, Spain and Estonia to Toronto stages.
October 1 at Revival Bar, Vieux Farka Touré and his band makes
a return Toronto visit presented in association with Batuki Music
Society. Touré is best known for his virtuoso guitar style blending
African guitar techniques with Western blues and rock, and an
easygoing onstage charm. There’s a family touring connection to
this town. I well recall seeing his Malian father Ali Farka Touré lay
down seamless guitar grooves and plangent vocals accompanied
by a lone gourd drummer one summer in a small open room at the
Harbourfront Centre.
October 2 the emerging Estonian singer and violinist Maarja Nuut
appears at the Small World Music Centre. She repurposes old Estonian
village songs, dance tunes and stories, often to live looped fiddle
accompaniment and solo improv melodies. Nuut’s music cumulatively
builds with a minimalist texture, one which can support emotional
intensity, yet never losing sight of what the composer calls a peaceful,
yet “lively relaxed state which … makes you want to prolong being in
the moment and concentrate.”
October 4 the Krar Collective will rock Lula Lounge, the trio armed
with a krar (six-stringed bowl-shaped Ethiopian lyre), kebero (drums)
and impressive vocals. Judging from their videos, they’re purveyors
of sold grooves, expressive melismatic melodies and a huge sound.
Bandleader Temesgen Zeleke uses an octave pedal as well as wah-wah
on his electric krar but also plays an acoustic five-string model that is
quieter and plucked rather than strummed, to support his eloquent
vocals. The Krar Collective is a musically compelling, neo-traditional
band taking traditional instruments, songs and genres, combining
them into a new mode of delivery for their audiences. NB: for full
enjoyment, come ready to dance.
End of an era, and passing it on: On October 1, the York University
Department of Music presents “Faculty Concert Series: Rhythms
of India” featuring Trichy Sankaran with the Autorickshaw Trio at
the Tribute Communities Recital Hall. After 44 years of service at
York, where he has taught generations of students, me included,
Professor Sankaran has recently retired – from teaching at York, not
from performing or teaching elsewhere. This concert is his parting
gift to the institution he served so long. He will share the stage with
the next generation, including his daughter, vocalist Suba Sankaran,
co-leader of the JUNO-nominated Indo-jazz-funk fusion ensemble
Autorickshaw and her bandmates, bass guitarist Dylan Bell and tabla
player Ed Hanley, Sankaran students all. The musicians will perform
solo and ensemble works by the master percussionist and composer.
I invite all whose life has been touched by this outstanding musician
– and there have been many from around the world – to attend this
once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Andrew Timar is a Toronto musician and music writer. He
can be contacted at worldmusic@thewholenote.com.
ABDULRAZAK KASSIM
22 | Oct 1 - Nov 7, 2015 thewholenote.com