Few artists have done more to bring Ukrainian traditional music into today’s European music scene than GANNA.
Since 2013, the Ukrainian singer, composer and ethnomusicology researcher has been collecting ancient folk songs from across Ukraine and reimagining them through jazz, electronic music, improvisation and contemporary composition. Today, critics describe her as one of the most distinctive voices on Europe’s jazz and folk scene.
Her 2022 album HOME was named Album of the Year by Germany’s DLF Kultur and Jazz Event of the Year by Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR). Her solo debut KUPALA was included among the best Ukrainian albums of 2023 by Slukh.Media and MIXMAG, while LIVEUROPE recognized it as one of Europe’s New Sounds of 2024.
Her latest album, UTOPIA, released in 2025, earned praise from Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and taz, which described GANNA as “a vocal experimenter, master of electronic sound and performer on rare instruments who has spent years preserving and reinventing ancient Ukrainian folk songs.”
On Aug. 9, GANNA will perform at the Vyrii Festival. Ahead of the concert, Kyiv Post spoke with her about Ukrainian folk traditions, Europe’s changing perception of Ukrainian culture, and why music remains one of the country’s strongest voices abroad.
Kyiv Post: You have spent many years researching authentic Ukrainian folk songs while living in Germany. How has Europe’s perception of this music changed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022? What do international audiences hear in Ukrainian folk music today?
GANNA: I began researching Ukrainian folk music back in 2013. That was when I decided that traditional Ukrainian songs would become the heart of my music, my arrangements and my compositions.
At the time, people often asked me: “Why do you sing in Ukrainian? Who will be interested in that in Germany or anywhere outside Ukraine?” But for me, it was never about demand. It was simply the most honest and authentic form of self-expression.
On Feb. 24, 2022, my first phone call was with my mother. The second was with a concert organizer, and together we immediately began planning our first charity concert in support of Ukraine. The third call came from Germany’s national radio.
It was painful to realize that it took a full-scale war for the world to finally pay attention to Ukraine. My native village narrowly escaped occupation. Friends left their professions to build barricades near Lviv. At the same time, I watched people across Europe ask, often for the first time: Who are Ukrainians? What is their language? Their music? Their culture?
Suddenly there was enormous interest – festival invitations, concerts, interviews. But my mission has remained exactly the same.
I want Ukrainian folk music to be present on the world’s stages because it is extraordinarily beautiful, profound and contemporary – music capable of telling universal human stories. And because culture remains one of the most powerful ways to support Ukraine and ensure its voice is heard around the world.
Kyiv Post: Your music combines ancient Ukrainian songs with electronics and contemporary composition. Why is it important for you not simply to preserve tradition but to reinterpret it?
GANNA: For me, folklore has never been a museum exhibit.
These songs were once the contemporary music of their own time. People sang them about love, loss, everyday life and war. They were alive.
I don’t want to preserve tradition under glass. I want it to continue living. That’s why I combine traditional singing with electronics, improvisation, jazz and contemporary composition.
This isn’t about making folklore fashionable. It’s about giving it a new context so it can continue speaking to people today.
I believe tradition remains alive only when we are not afraid to reinterpret it.
Kyiv Post: Many of the songs you perform were collected during field expeditions across the Carpathians, the Kyiv region and Poltava region. Which encounters most changed your understanding of Ukraine?
GANNA: More than the songs themselves, it was always the people who moved me the most.
I met elderly women who remembered dozens – sometimes hundreds – of songs and sang them as if they had been written yesterday. After recording, we would often spend hours simply talking about life.
That was when I realized that folklore is much more than melodies. It is memory, a way of thinking, a sense of humor, an attitude toward life.
Every region has its own voice, yet together they form an incredibly diverse Ukraine. Those journeys taught me to see my country not through stereotypes but as a living culture that constantly evolves while never losing its roots.
Kyiv Post: You are performing at the Vyrii Festival, which brings together contemporary Ukrainian music and tradition. What does participating in this festival mean to you personally?
GANNA: Vyrii is deeply symbolic for me.
It demonstrates that Ukrainian tradition does not exist separately from the present. On the contrary, it can become the source of new music, new meanings and a renewed sense of identity.
After many years of performing mostly abroad, it feels especially important to return and perform in Ukraine.
Kyiv Post: What comes next for you?
GANNA: Right now, I am working on new music while continuing my research into Ukrainian folk traditions.
For me, this is a journey without an end. The deeper you go, the more you discover.
There are new international tours, festivals and collaborations ahead.
My greatest dream remains unchanged: for Ukrainian music to be heard on the world’s leading stages not as an exception, but as a natural part of global culture.