“We can sing the anthem of Ukraine by day and night!”

They sing songs about love, ballads, romances, folk and classic pieces, rock and roll hits, and jazz. All of their compositions, without exception, radiate positive energy as well as the band members: Volodymyr Yakymets, Yaroslav Nudyk, Andrii Kapral, Bohdan Bohach, Roman Turianyn, and Andrii Shavala. Sextette traveled around the world with songs that make hearts of many fans of the band freeze with a sweet feeling. Among such songs there are: “Little Old Tram,” “Hermit,” “Hat,” “Country,” “Shizgara,” “Shaliala,” “O sole mio,” “Lullaby for Alice.” The repertoire of Pikkardiiska Tertsia includes more than three hundred songs. The band toured all over the globe and visited Poland, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Canada, the US, Singapore, Belgium, and Switzerland. Regardless of the place where the band performed in the past two decades, they always charmed the audience not only with the perfection of singing, but also with an exquisite manner of performing and great respect for the audience. In 2006 Pikkardiiska Tertsia represented Ukrainian culture for the deputies of European Commission in Brussels and in 2008 the band won the highest award for creative contribution to the development of culture and art in Ukraine – Taras Shevchenko National Prize.

Pikkardiiska Tertsia will present its best hits at the concerts dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the band. Audience will get a chance to ride in Lviv “Little Old Tram,” soak wet under “Recent Summer Rain,” visit the “Hermit,” find the mysterious “Eldorado,” come up with their own “Garden of Angels Songs,” and sing together the “Lullaby for Alice.” Pikkardiiska Tertsia also plans to trigger new emotions and impressions with premiers of new songs.

By the way, Pikkardiiska Tertsia name September 24 as their birthday – on this date in 1992 their first concert took place in Ivan Franko Lviv National University. The term Pikkardiiska Tertsia was borrowed from the theoretical work of composer Anatolii Kos-Anatolsky. This title came at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in French province Picardie. Subsequently, it has been widely used in the creative work of academic composers as George Handel, Johann Sebastian Bach, and others.

The Day met with Volodymyr YAKYMETS and Yaroslav NUDYK and the singers told us about their audience, friends, children, and band’s plans.

Please tell us about the plans for celebrating the band’s anniversary.

Ya.N.: “On September 22 we invite our fans to Mykola Sadovsky Music and Drama Theater in Vinnytsia, on September 24 we will give a concert in Lviv Opera Theater, and on September 29 we will perform at the Ukraina Palace in Kyiv. We will present the widest repertoire – songs from different periods of our stage career.”

V.Ya.: “Many fellow musicians who have become close friends agreed to participate in our concert, among them: TNMK, TIK, and also singers – Foma, Maria Burmaka, Ruslana Lyzhychko, and Pavlo Tabakov. Our guests will perform as soloists of Pikkardiiska Tertsia and we will do a capella accompaniment. We also plan to present premieres. Now we polish our repertoire at the rehearsals. We hope to have home-like atmosphere at both concerts and have audience of all ages.”

The artistic heritage of the band includes ten CD albums and a DVD recording of live concert in Lviv Opera House. Will there be jubilee recordings?

V.Ya.: “Yes, there will be. ‘20 years – 20 songs’ – this will be our first double vinyl album. We will not be selling it, it is a gift version for fans of our music. The first edition is a thousand copies and we hope to have other editions. We also plan to release a debut album with songs performed by our friends – singers and musicians. Next year we will begin recording a new album. Thus, after the landmark of 20 years on stage we do not put a full stop but an ellipsis.”

You have such a great performing experience. Have you ever considered teaching others to sing?

V.Ya.: “I think we will make poor teachers. Perhaps, the principle that works in soccer – if you were a good soccer player you will not necessarily make a good coach – is true here as well. No, we have not yet matured for such activity. Maybe, because we still feel like students ourselves.”

I wonder how many children do you, “students,” have?

Ya.N.: “Seventeen [Nudyk counted children including those of the band manager Roman Klymovsky. – Author]. The oldest one is 21 – this is my kid, and the youngest is not even six months old yet.”

Do you like to look for interesting lyrics for your songs and maybe you’ve come across something really special recently?

V.Ya.: “No, I can not tell about anything interesting. Maybe, because young poets as well as young composers are too eager to be original. I wrote the song ‘Recent Summer Rain’ [from the album Etudes. – Author] to the lyrics of poetess Olesia Sadova from Lviv and I have a couple of her other poems in mind as potential songs. I don’t even really know what to say about other poets. When Nudyk brings new songs they are usually written to the poems of Guillaume Apollinaire or Robert Burns. Usually it is classics.”

You have been together for two decades now, have you not grew tired of each other?

V.Ya.: “Of course we did. It is absolutely natural. There come certain moments when we make a break – it is better sometimes not to sing for a week. Another thing is that after so many years together we know each other way too good and there are hardly ever any arguments between us because we know where and how we should compromise, where we should better say nothing, and where, on the contrary, we should express our opinion.”

In how many languages do you sing?

V.Ya.: “We sing in 12 different languages. It does not mean that we speak all of them – musical ear allows us to learn the lyrics well. When we sang in France and Germany, audience there praised Kapral and Nudyk for their good pronunciation. In Naples people who came to our concerts said that we had Neapolitan accent and wondered where we have learned it. It is important for us to understand what we sing.”

Are there any male bands in Ukraine, Europe, or anywhere else in the world whose performances you watch regularly? Or maybe you would like to borrow something from their experience? Are there any styles that you would never even try?

V.Ya.: “Never say never. We would never lower our artistic bar and therefore we would never sing chanson. We would never allow kitsch in our music. There was time when we listened to lots of different kinds of music, took a lot from it, and, perhaps, developed our own musical image. Therefore, I think, no matter how immodest it may sound coming from us, but the time has come when others should watch our creative work and learn from it. On the other hand, live and learn.”

Now when you look at the history of your band what events do you consider to be significant?

V.Ya.: “The first major milestone for us was that the four of us [Yakymets, Nudyk, Kapral, and Bohach. – Author] met in Lviv Music College. It is important that we met Oleksandr Shevchenko [author of music and lyrics of the song ‘I am Going to the Seaside.’ – Author]. When I entered the Conservatory I met Dzvinka Sumaruk. This is when the songs ‘Hermit’ and ‘Melodies of Late Fall’ came out. Meeting Roman Klymovsky, who has been our manager for 19 years now, was also a significant event. I should also mention our first photographer and secretary on the staff Mykhailo Dashkovych. Our first album was recorded at the Lev Studio by Oleksandr Ksenofontov. We had interesting artistic collaboration with singer Ruslana Lyzhychko, drummer Oleh Krupei, artists Vlodko Kaufman and Yevhen Ravsky. Another important event was meeting Bohdan Stefura, who has been our studio and concert sound engineer all this time, legendary Ihor Lesko – member of the ‘golden’ team of the band Smerichka, percussionist Ivan Voshchyna, designer Oksana Karavanska, and director Lesia Rybinska. I will probably not mention all of the people who have been important to us, but we certainly remember them all.”

Can you picture Pikkardiiska Tertsia in five or ten years from now?

Ya.N.: “We will be just as active.”

V.Ya.: “I really want us to always do something new and interesting for our audience, even for the young 16-year olds.”

Where was the last time that Pikkardiiska Tertsia sang Ukrainian anthem?

V.Ya.: “At a soccer game. We sang ‘Ukraine has not yet perished’ before the game of Ukraine against the Czech Republic, which took place at the stadium Donbas Arena. We can sing the anthem of Ukraine by day and night.”

Ya.N.: “And in the morning!”