CONCERT OF EPIC SONGS (29 July 2004, 7 PM, Alchemia)
2. Jurij Fedynskyj (Ukraine)
Jurij Fedynskyj - a bandurist of Ukrainian origin born in the USA. A graduate of East Carolina University, Greenville and North Carolina in the piano class. He studied bandura, vocal and composition at the Music College in Lviv and the Kiev Academy of Music. During his stay in Kiev, he associated with the kobzars' guild, where he learned the secrets of playing folk bandura and the performance techniques of authentic kobzars and bandurists. During his stay in the USA, he collaborated with diaspora bands (Dumka Choir, Ukrainian Bandurists' Choir), he was also part of the Experimental Bandura Trio project. For several years he has been living in Kiev, being an animator of the folk scene, for example he was a part of the folk rock band Hajdamaki and he is currently a member of the Carpathians ethnoband.
Ukraine: Lyricism - the phenomenon of Ukrainian spirituality
Wandering minstrels from France and England, German minezingeers, Norwegian-Icelandic skalds, Slavic enchanters (hushlars), Kazakh and Kyrgyz Akin, Transcaucasian Ashugas, followers of the Indian Vedic epic, Karelo-Finnish "Kalevala" or Estonian "Kalevipoeg"- all of them belong to a noble group of early epic traditions pioneers. In this group, Ukrainian kobzars, bandurists, lyrists and the tradition they created, called "kobzaring", occupy a unique place. Kobzars and lyrists shared the fact that they were promoters of the highest spiritual values of their nation, and also had similar social outsider status. Characteristically, a beggar became a symbol of the mission of promoting the highest values in Ukraine.
The structure of "Dziadostwo" ("Poor Wanderers") in Slavic lands was extremely diversed. Among them were settled and nomadic beggars, street musicians, the blind, the psychics, old men banished by hunger and poverty in Belarus and Russia, "calvary beggars" in Poland, crippled, accidental or professional singers with or without an instrument, etc. Among them, the lyrists constituted a small, but the most dignified group in the spiritual, moral and artistic sense. The singing of bandurists and kobzars was quiet and recitative, lyrists - louder, slightly exalted and with a greater degree of emotional involvement. Lyrists were also characterized by less political commitment to greater religious radicalism. Epic prides, religious psalms, ballads and historical songs - this is the basis of their repertoire. These are songs for encouragement and warning. They contain the truth about the nation, its history, culture and people. Lyricism is a kind of mission to promote the highest values. Its origins date back to the Middle Ages, and over the centuries it developed into a rich tradition, the symbol of which - the figure of a wandering musician with a magic instrument - the people worshiped widely.