On December 4, the New York Carnegie Hall concert hall will host the Notes From Ukraine charity concert, timed to the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Mykola Leontovych’s “Shchedryk”. The presenters of the event will be director Martin Scorsese and American actress of Ukrainian origin Vera Farmiga.
In 1922, the Ukrainian Republican Chapel under the direction of Oleksandr Koshyts, the choir of the newly independent Ukrainian People’s Republic, first performed Shchedryk on the stage of Carnegie Hall. The performance was part of their tour of North America and Europe, the purpose of which was “to spread information about the new independent Ukrainian nation in the world.”
Subsequently, in 1936, the American composer of Ukrainian origin Peter J. Wilhousky presented an English version of the song Carol of the Bells. The new version of “The Generous” became a popular New Year’s song in English-speaking countries and was featured in such films as “Home Alone” and “Harry Potter”.
Conceptually, the Ukrainian lyrics of this song meet the definition of a shchedrivka, while the English content of “The Little Swallow” identifies it as a kolyadka.
The program of the concert also includes the performances of the Ukrainian children’s choir “Shchedryk” from Kyiv, the Ukrainian choir “Dumka” from New York and the Ukrainian Bandurist Band of North America, which are traditional Ukrainian Christmas compositions, the American opera singer Janay Brugger and the Ukrainian folk singer Marichka Marchyk. as well as the Trinity Wall Street Choir, whose members will perform compositions by Ukrainian and American composers. Among them are the works of Mykola Leontovich, Valentin Sylvestrov, Eric Vitakra, Viktoria Poleva, Leonard Bernstein.
