Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America

Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America Download Audio Transcript John Floridis: Welcome. This podcast is part of a series highlighting the 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellows, recipients of the nation's highest honor in folk and traditional arts. I'm John Floridis. For this podcast, we're going to visit with artistic director Oleh Mahlay and President Andy Hladyshevsky of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America. The group is based in Detroit, Michigan, and has an incredible story going back centuries. The story starts with a very unique instrument, the Bandura. The plucked, fretless instrument combines elements of the zither, harp, and loot, and up until the 1940s was also often called a Kobza. But the unique and beautiful musical qualities of the instrument are just the start of the story. During our conversation, Ola and Andy provided a deep dive into the history of the Bandura, the bards that sang the story songs of the Ukrainian culture, and the chorus groups that followed, and most importantly, kept those stories alive into the present day diaspora of Ukrainian Americans and the general public. This is the story of much more than entertainment. I

Cancel anytime · CA$99/month