Chernivtsi residents commemorate Volodymyr Ivasiuk
A festival of Ukrainian songs takes place in Theater Square
It will be recalled that for the first time Chervona Ruta became a festival of Ukrainian songs in 2000, when former head of the Chernivtsi-based Volodymyr Ivasiuk Oblast Memorial Museum Paraskovia Nechaieva initiated it to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the legendary song.
On September 13, 1970 the Ukrainian premiere of the song, performed by the author Volodymyr Ivasiuk and singer Olena Kuznetsova, took place live on the Theater Square of Chernivtsi on the TV show “Tuning Fork of Good Mood.” Forty-four years have passed since that time, but legendary “Chervona Ruta” can be heard on the radio, on television, during concerts not only in Ukraine, but also abroad.
The festival dedicated to this event has been held eight years in succession, this time in Chernivtsi. The audience received the performances of both young talents and professional performance emotionally, in elated mood. Twenty-six young performers of variety song from municipal and private studios took part in the song festival, which was founded by the departments of culture of Chernivtsi ODA and Volodymyr Ivasiuk Memorial Museum. They included the band Viktoria and Sviatoslav Krai, who has recently returned from the ATO area.
Head of Volodymyr Ivasiuk Memorial Museum, writer Myroslav Lazaruk noted, “This feast is proof that we remember our geniuses and our history. Ukraine must have a song festival of its own. Not only for Chernivtsi or Bukovyna, but entire Ukraine, and the world.”
“It is pleasant for us that youth and children’s ensembles join the action,” head of the department of culture of the ODA Vira Kytaihorodska emphasized, “For the festival aims at involving young performers in the best models of Ukrainian variety songs and draw attention to its origins and achievements, founded by Volodymyr Ivasiuk, who was one of the first people in variety art who organically combined the folk melodies and modern interpretation and created bright unique music. This is the reason why his songs immediately became popular; people loved, felt them, and sang them in all corners of our country and abroad. Today they are easily paving the way to the hearts of the audience.”
Not only the residents of Chernivtsi, but also the guests of the city, including many migrants from the east and the Crimea, came to commemorate Volodymyr Ivasiuk and listen to his songs. The festival ended by performance of “Chervona Ruta” by the singers and the audience.
