EDMONTON, Canada — Ukrainian-Canadians gathered in Edmonton to celebrate the life and music of Ukrainian composer Volodymyr Ivasiuk. Since 2019 marks what would have been Ivasiuk’s 70th birthday, over 120 members of the local Ukrainian community turned out to film a recording of Ivasiuk’s renowned piece Chervona Ruta (Red Rue) at Edmonton City Hall.
With that, they challenge Ukrainians around the world to sing and post on social media various songs of the composer. The organizers of the event, called Ivasiuk Lives On! were the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta and Alberta Ukrainian Media Association, through an ad hoc committee led by Vlodko Boychuk and Orest Soltykevych.
The Ukrainian community in Edmonton sings Chervona Ruta in Edmonton City Hall on Oct. 6, 2019.
Boychuk always felt a special connection to Ivasiuk’s songs. “For me, (they) represent modern Ukraine with exciting musical treasures. To illustrate that, look at how our Ukrainian soccer fans from around the world have sung Ivasiuk’s “Chervona Ruta” at World Cup and EURO competitions.” Boychuk, who chairs the Alberta Ukrainian Media Association, decided to submit a project proposal to the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta to help organize the event. It brought together everyone from the newly arrived immigrants to 4th generation descendants of Ukrainian pioneers in Canada, as well as many Ukrainian choirs from Edmonton. According to Luba Boyko-Bell, a president of the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta, it was “very much a moving experience.”
It is difficult to imagine Ukrainian pop-folk songs without Ivasiuk’s contribution. As early as the age of five, Volodymyr began learning to play the violin at a music school. Later he added piano to his repertoire and in 1964 – when he was just 16 – created Bukovyna Ensemble in his school and started writing their first songs.
After he had already graduated from school, his family moved to the western Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi where his father was offered a teaching position at the Bukovinian State Medical University. Ivasiuk went on to study at the Lviv Medical Institute while he continued his musical career. He joined the Karpaty Ensemble at a local community center, played the violin and offered his songs to be performed.
On Sept. 13, 1970 he became an overnight national sensation, after a public performance of his compositions “Chervona Ruta” and “Vodohray” with Olena Kuznetsova. In 1971 his “Chervona Ruta”, performed live in Moscow with Vasyliy Zinkevych and Nazary Yaremchuk, and won the Best Song of the Year award of the Soviet Union. His composition “Vodohray” won the best song award the next year as well. Later “Chervona Ruta”, sung by Sofia Rotaru, was featured in the musical-film Chervona Ruta.
He then moved to Lviv where he studied composition at the Lviv Conservatory of Music. During that time, he created many of his famous songs, including “I am your wing”, “Two rings”, “Ballad about two violins”. All these songs of Ivasyuk were premiered by Rotaru.
On May 18, 1979 Ivasiuk was found hanged in a forest located on the outskirts of Lviv. He was 30 years old. The official cause of death was listed as suicide but Ivasiuk is only one of the many whose deaths were falsely categorized as suicides during the Soviet era.
His celebrity status in the Soviet Union and his cultural contributions, particularly the Ukrainian focus of much of his work, drew the attention of Soviet authorities. His songs about the love of Ukraine were perceived by the regime as rousing nationalist sentiment in listeners. Ivasiuk’s funeral in Lviv was attended by over 10,000 people and turned into a mass protest against the Soviet regime. After his death, his compositions were removed for a time from sale and radio play.
The Kyiv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise concluded a new examination in June and found that Ivasiuk could not have hanged himself without the help of someone else. 40 years after Ivasiuk was killed, his family has still had no success in learning the truth of how and why his life was extinguished, barely beyond the flush of youth and with so much potential yet before him.
