Vesnivka Choir Verified listing

Vesnivka is Canada’s pre-eminent Ukrainian Women’s choir - visit us at: www.vesnivka.com
“WE ARE A GROUP OF DEDICATED AND PASSIONATE WOMEN WHO SHARE A LOVE OF SINGING AND ARE COMMITTED TO THE PRESERVATION AND ENRICHMENT OF OUR UKRAINIAN CHORAL TRADITION”
For 57 years, Vesnivka has played an integral role in the Canadian and Ukrainian-Canadian choral communities. From its humble origins as a school choir for girls in 1965, the choir has grown into a powerful voice in the world of choral music, bringing Ukrainian classical, contemporary, sacred, and folk choral music to Canadian audiences and to audiences abroad.
Vesnivka has collaborated with leading Canadian and Ukrainian choirs and ensembles including the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Orpheus Choir, the Amadeus Choir, the Victoria Scholars, the Toronto Children’s Choir, the Gryphon Trio, Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, Canadian Bandurist Capella, baritone Pavlo Hunka, Alexis Kochan, Utrechts Byzantijns Koor, and the Kyiv Chamber Choir.
 THE CHOIR HAS SPREAD THE JOY OF SINGING IN MORE THAN 12 COUNTRIES ACROSS THREE CONTINENTS.

VESNIVKA CHOIR: was established in 1965 by founding conductor/director Halyna Kvitka Kondracki and is renowned for its musical excellence, quality of repertoire and high professional standards. During its 57-year history, this ensemble has earned much critical acclaim both internationally and in Canada, including First Prize in the Folk Competition at the prestigious International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, North Wales, several First-Place honours in the cultural category of the CBC National Choral Competition and a silver medal in the "Folklore a cappella" category at the Choir Olympics 2000 held in Linz, Austria. Vesnivka Choir has performed on concert stages around the world, including: New York's Carnegie Hall, Royal Albert Hall in London, England, and St. Peter’s Basilica and the Papal Auditorium in the Vatican City, as well as various venues in North and South America, England, Wales, and throughout Europe, including Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Ukraine.
Over five decades of choral singing, Vesnivka has commissioned numerous works, both original and new arrangements by Canadian and Ukrainian composers. Its choral legacy is preserved in a variety of recordings and in the newly launched Vesnivka e-Library of Ukrainian Choral Music, created in celebration of Vesnivka’s 50thanniversary, for future generations to enjoy.
Vesnivka fosters choral development and provides an opportunity for individuals to enjoy a challenging and rewarding musical experience through a community-based choir. Vesnivka strives to broaden its musical horizons by participating in musical festivals and events, and by collaborating with other choirs and ensembles. We also promote young emerging soloists and musicians by providing them with an opportunity, as guest performers in our concerts, to showcase their talents.
 
TORONTO UKRAINIAN MALE CHAMBER CHOIR(TUMCC) was establishedby Halyna Kvitka Kondrackiin June 2001 and has performed in concert with Vesnivka throughout the last sixteen years, including the ever-popular annual Christmas concert. TUMCC, together with Vesnivka, joined other ensembles to participate in memorial concerts commemorating the 20thand 25thAnniversaries of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster, a live broadcast of CBC Easter Celebrations (April 2007), and memorial concerts commemorating each of the 70th, 75th and 85thanniversaries of the Famine-Genocide “Holodomor” in Ukraine.
 
 
HALYNA KVITKA KONDRACKI is founding director/conductor of Toronto’s award-winning Vesnivka Choir as well as conductor of the Toronto Ukrainian Male Chamber Choir.  A graduate of University of Toronto's Faculty of Music, this accomplished musician and talented conductor has helped create a vibrant choral tradition in Canada and abroad. Ms. Kondracki strongly supports Ukrainian-Canadian musicians and composers, many of whom call Ontario their home, by commissioning works and by promoting their performances and music.
Her professional affiliations include being a charter member and President of the Ukrainian Canadian Choral Federation, as well as memberships in Association of Canadian Choral Conductors and the American Choral Directors Association. Recently, Kondracki spearheaded the formation of the Ukrainian Canadian National Arts Council under the auspices of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.For several years, Kondracki has been an adjudicator at the annual Ukrainian Music Festival in Toronto. In 2012 she was an adjudicator for Choirs Ontario’s “Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting”. 
Her tireless contributions to the Canadian choral scene and Canada's cultural mosaic have earned her many accolades, including an honorary award from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress for recognition of her work in Toronto’s Ukrainian choral community, an award from the Canadian Choral Conductor’s Association, and, in 2007, the Shevchenko Medal from the Canadian Ukrainian Congress, honouring her for her work in promoting Ukrainian choral music to Canadians. On October 18, 2015, Kondracki was recognized by the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) with a Medal for Outstanding Contribution during the 2014 "Year of Shevchenko", a beloved and revered poet of Ukraine, celebrating 200 years of his birth.Read more