“With name of Borys Liatoshynsky we made ourselves known in history of world’s music”

Borys Liatoshynsky Prize and Mykhailo Verykivsky Prize are awarded on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and the National Union of Composers of Ukraine – they are the co-founders of the prestigious music awards. The awarding ceremony traditionally took place in the apartment of Borys Liatoshynsky, where his spirit is still wandering all over the place and you always feel welcome there. In a circle of colleagues and those invited to the ceremony, which rather resembled a family gathering, was held by the Deputy Minister of Culture Tymofii Kokhan and jury chairmen of both contests: composer Myroslav Skoryk and music expert Maryna Cherkashyna-Hubarenko.

This year the title of Borys Liatoshynsky Prize winner gained musicians from Lviv Oleksandr Kozarenko and Volodymyr Zubytsky, who for over 15 years now has lived and worked in Italy. In the field of theater and stage music the Mykhailo Verykivsky Prize (it is awarded once in two years) went to Kyiv composer Ivan Nebesny for his musical Taras Bulba. Verykivsky was famous primarily as the author of operas Naimychka (The Servant Girl), Sotnyk, Vii, Vtikachi (The Runaways), and the first Ukrainian ballet Pan Kaniovsky (Mr. Kaniovsky). Now the name of Verykivsky is known only to those intereseted in history of Ukrainian culture.

The founder of Ukrainian professional music and the national school of composers of the 20th century Hungarian Liatoshynsky could’ve become what Hungarian Bela Bartok or Pole Karol Szymanowsky are for the world music. However, unlike their work, music by Liatoshynsky is almost unknown even in his native land, guilty of concealing the masterpieces of Ukrainian composer, even though Ukrainian musicians now try to open the extremely rich world of his music. I mean, first of all, the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Volodymyr Sirenko, who recently stunned the audience with performing all the symphonies by Liatoshynsky. However, these are only solitary examples. And it is not all because of the, so-called, inferiority complex, but, unfortunately, due to the constant lack of state formation of public demand for Ukrainian culture and the unwillingness to recognize its uniqueness and artistic value.

“With name of Borys Liatoshynsky we made ourselves known in history of world’s music,” noted Oleksandr Kozarenko at the awarding ceremony and added: “It is symbolic for me that I receive this Prize named after the brilliant Ukrainian composer exactly 30 years after I began to fill musical sheets with my own works. Today I have great honor to receive it from my teacher Myroslav Skoryk.” As musical offering Kozarenko played preludes by Liatoshynsky on the piano, which once was played by Liatoshynsky himself. Kozarenko graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory as a composer and as a pianist – he now is a true master of piano playing.

All three award winners are extremely bright and completely different personalities. The search for new worlds of sound in lyrical music of Nebesny, deep philosophy and passionate expression of Kozarenko, explosive energy and high-voltage musical images of Zubytsky amaze and surprise with the power of talent and professional skills. If only their music could be played more often and in more places! It turned out that all three laureates were students of Skoryk, who, undoubtedly, also felt involved in the celebration of newborn winners.