NUMBER 63 OCTOBER 2007 626 BATHURST ST. TORONTO, ON ISSN-0703-9999

Continuing rich traditionsAs a reader of the Bulletin and a

member of our audience, you are well acquainted with the musical activities of the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble and its reputation of being one of the most innovative musical organizations in Canada.

Our long and rich history in the performing arts, and the many great accomplishments over the years, have been achieved not only by the dedica-tion and striving for excellence by the artistic leadership and the performers, but through the continued financial and moral support of the community.

In the forefront of that support are members and activists in the National Shevchenko Musical Ensemble Guild of Canada which was incorporated 35 years ago for the purpose of maintain-ing and operating the Shevchenko

Musical Ensemble – a wellknown song and dance ensemble in existence since 1951.

The support by thousands over the past 35 years has been exemplary. It has come from people of many differ-ent ethnic backgrounds who acknow-ledge the special role the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble plays in the multi-coloured mosaic of Canadian culture; people who has seen their cultural traditions reflected in the programs of the Shevchenko Ensemble.

The Guild is dedicated to continu-ing these fine traditions, to developing new programs in order to bring some-thing special to all our lives whether you sit in the audience or on the stage.

To accomplish these goals we need the contiunung support of the community. Of the entire Guild

budget, approximately 5 percent is derived from government sources. Concert revenues bring in 25 percent and approximately 40 percent is the result of fundraising by hardworking and dedicated Guild members.

The remaining must come from individuals contributing to our Annual Sustaining Fund Drive.

If you are a regular supporter, please consider increasing your con-tribution this year to help us develop new and creative artistic programs for presentation by the Shevchenko Musi-cal Ensemble.

If you have not made a contribu-tion to our Annual Sustaining Fund Drive in the past, please do so today and become part of this one-of-a-kind truly Canadian cultural experience.

Thank you.

Concert is highlight of Annual PicnicThe concert at the Guild’s Annual Picnic was the highlight of this fund-raising event held on June 10 at the beautiful Slovak Camp in Mississauga.

What a fine duo! Jeff Cardey on mandolin and Richard Kirstiuk on guitar were terrific in their unusual mix of Ukrainian folk tunes, blue grass and old familiar tunes from as early as the 20s.

Jeff, a new member of the Toronto Mandolin Orchestra and a great as-set to the first mandolin section, also displayed talent as a singer, crooning along with the instrumentals.

Jeff graduated from the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, on clas-sical guitar. He will return to classical guitar on November 18 when he ap-pears as soloist with the TMO at Glenn Gould Studio.

Svetlana and Andrei Pendik, directors of the Shevchenko School of Ballet, had two of their dance groups appear on the program performing the Cat Dance from Peter and the Wolf and Dance of the Flowers. The Kaniv Dancers also performed a Kozachok and Gypsy Dance.

Another display of hidden talent

was Alexander Veprinsky, (usually conducting the choir and/or orches-tra) as Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon.

Since the picnic is a successful fundraiser for the Shevchenko En-semble, the Guild relies on volunteers to prepare and run the event.

Thanks go to committee chair Flo-renz Seychuk, members of the Picnic Committee and all who worked in the different areas to guarantee a success-ful annual event.

and his paintings and sculptures are represented in collections in Canada (including the National Gallery and the Canadian War Museum), the USA, Israel, Spain and Mexico.

Mr. Rosenthal’s beautiful bronze art piece, his gift to the Guild, will be raffled off in October just as soon as a raffle licence is obtained.

Good luck to the person who will place this masterpiece on his or her mantle.

Our sincere gratitude to Joe Rosenthal for his generous donation and kind support of the work of the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble.

Guild receives an art treasureThe Shevchenko Guild is the grateful recipient of a wonder-ful gift.

Joe Rosenthal, a wellknown and gifted Canadian artist has donated one of his sculptures to the Guild as a raffle prize.

The statuette, number 4 of 10, is cast in bronze and is known as Seated Nude, a beautiful replica of a beautiful woman.

Joe Rosenthal was born in 1921 in Kishinev (then under Romania), but grew up in Toronto where he showed an unusual artistic talent in his early school years. At the age of four-teen he was studying art at Central Technical School and by age 21 he won first prize over 500 entries in a poster contest sponsored by the Art Gallery of Toronto.

To quote the Ottawa Citizen: “Joe Rosenthal is a sculptor who speaks about the basics. His bronze sculptures of market women are earthy, solid, full of humour, ready to gossip.”

Mr. Rosenthal has had numerous solo shows, has won many awards,

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Jeff Cardey, mandolin • Richard Kirstiuk, guitar

Jeff Cardey, mandolin and vocals

Alexander Veprinsky, MC

Toronto Mandolin Orchestra returns to Glenn Gould StudioThe Toronto Mandolin Orchestra, un-der the Artistic Direction of Alexander Veprinsky, returns to Glenn Gould Stu-dio with a new and exciting program on Sunday, November 18 at 2:00 p.m.

A new roster of soloists, both instrumental and vocal, will join the orchestra in a program of folk and clas-sical music.

The TMO itself is a treat to any-one’s ears. Comprised of the complete family of mandolins – from prima to mando-bass – this unique orchestra is as much at home playing pieces based on a folk theme as it is performing popular classical selections.

The TMO, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2006, is a continu-ation of the long tradition of mandolin orchestral music which flourished in the Ukrainian, Jewish, Macedonian, Russian and other communities in Canada.

Its repertoire of more than 200 boasts such unique arrangements for mandolins as Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (for solo domra and orches-tra), Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers from Nutcracker Suite and much more, all arranged by the talented Alexander Veprinsky.

The program on November 18 will feature Ira Erokhina, virtuoso on the 3-string domra (a mandolin-like Rus-sian instrument), and Jeff Cardey on classical guitar. The audience will thrill to the bell-like soprano voice of Helen Spiers; be stirred by the booming basso profundo of Herman Rombouts and the breathtaking tenor voice of Artour Razgoev, a welcome new addition to the Shevchenko Choir and roster of vocal soloists.

Don’t miss this terrific concert. Tickets are $30.00 (VISA orders add $2 per ticket) and are available from the Shevchenko Ensemble at 416-533-2725 or the GGS Box Office at 416-205-5555.

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Ira Erokhina domraIra is a highly-skilled performer on the 3-string domra. She

received her education at the Russian State Academy of Music in Moscow. After graduate studies she was appointed senior lecturer

at that institution. She was a soloist with the world renowned Osipov Folk Orchestra for many years, is an award winning

performer at competitions, and has been recorded for television and radio in Russia and abroad. After living and performing in S. Africa for a number of years, Ira emigrated to Canada where

she is a well sought after performer and teacher of mandolin, domra, guitar and piano. Ira has been a member and soloist with

the Toronto Mandolin Orchestra since 2002.

Jeff Cardey guitarJeff obtained his music degree from the University of Toronto

in 1996 studying classical guitar with Norbert Kraft. He be-gan playing guitar at the age of 11 in Winnipeg and in pursuit of music has called Toronto home for the last 15 years. He has

released many CDs, both independent and on the Solitudes label. Currently he performs with a classical guitar quartet

(Cedar and Spruce), an acoustic jazz quartet (String Theory Collective), an old time string band (Rolling River), an Irish band (Joyce’s Folly) and of course the Toronto Mandolin Or-chestra. He has composed and arranged a number of pieces for both mandolin and guitar and devotes any spare time teaching

both instruments.

Helen Spiers sopranoHelen was born in Glace Bay, N.S. where she sang in school choirs

from the age of 8. In the 1960s she sang with a Toronto rock and roll dance band. She had a 25 year hiatus from singing and in the late

80s joined Music Theatre Etobicoke performing in many musicals. She began her classical vocal studies at the Royal Conservatory of

Music at the tender age of 49. She has performed numerous times at Roy Thompson Hall in the Seniors Jubilee and sang at a downtown

Supper Club. She is a soloist with the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble and a regular soloist for churches, charities, weddings and special oc-casions. She recently has been named the Toronto GTA Regional Star

in the Chartwell Senior Star Competition.

Artour Razgoev tenorArtour was born in Yerevan, Armenia, where as a child he showed an

interest in singing. He performed in Armenia, Russia, Canada and Italy. His education in belcanto singing began in Toronto and in 2002 Artour sang his first solo concert. In 2007 Arthour gave his first Tenor

Recital and, with Toronto Opera Repertoire, he sang the parts of Gastone in Verdi’s La Traviata,Borsa in Rigoletto, and Rodolfo in La Boheme by G. Puccini. Artour joined the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble

last season, astounding audiences with his beautiful tenor voice.

Herman Rombouts bassHerman studied voice and clarinet in Holland before coming to Canada where he sang for many years with the Canadian Opera

Company. For 8 years he performed as chorister and soloist with the Ivan Romanoff Chorus on Songs of My People on CBC radio and

television. Since the mid-70s Herman has been performing with the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble and has acquired an extensive repertoire of Russian songs, so well-suited to a basso profoundo. Herman contin-

ues to delight audiences with his powerful voice in operatic arias.

TMO soloist featured guest artist in Decorah, Iowa

In 2003 I and colleagues from the To-ronto Mandolin Orchestra, Eda Dow-hopoluk and Ginger Kautto, attended the 25th Anniversary Convention of the Balalaika and Domra Association of America held in Washington, D.C.

It was a very exciting event, for in addition to featuringTamara Vols-kaya, international guests were from the Osipov Folk Orchestra in Moscow – Nikolai Kalinin, then Artistic Direc-tor of the orchestra now deceased, Anatoly Tikhanov, balalaika soloist, and Alexander Tsygankov, concert master (domra) and his pianist-wife Inna Shevchenko.

When I heard that Ira Erokhina, resident soloist of the Toronto Man-dolin Orchestra, was invited as guest soloist and lecturer at this year’s convention in Decorah, Iowa I knew I couldn’t miss it.

The convention was held at Luther College which boasts one of the larg-est undergraduate music programs at a liberal arts college in the USA, and perhaps in the world. This region in Iowa, corn country of the USA heart-land, was originally opened by Norwe-gian immigrants and Luther College is based on the faith and traditions of those people. The extensive music program at the college includes seven choirs or choral ensembles and eight instrumental bands and orchestras. One of the new additions to this roster of programming is the college’s very own Balalaika Ensemble.

Delegates stayed in the beautiful accommodations at the college and the final concert was held in their state of the art 1,600 seat auditorium.

During the week-long event, Ira conducted advanced classes for domra. I was fortunate to borrow a 4-string tenor domra so I could attend her lec-tures. Ira brought us back to the basics of proper picking techniques, tremolo and scales. She prepared four lovely se-lections for the 20 students in her class, two of which we performed at an open

mic session. We felt very proud of what Ira had achieved with us in such a short period of time.

In addition to teaching, Ira perform-ed on a number of occasions. She and Victor Gorodinsky, Music Director of the University of Wisconsin Russian Folk Orchestra and a Slavic Studies Li-brarian, performed a domra and guitar duet at one of the mini-concerts as well as at the final concert in the grand hall.

They were the only one’s to receive a standing ovation. This was for their performance of Monte’s Czardas.

Ira performed Carnival in Venice by N. Paganini and Rimsky-Korsa-kov’s Flight of the Bumblebee with the BDAA Festival Orchestra conducted by Svetlana Nikono-va, Artistic Director of the Washington Balalaika Society.

Given that the mass orchestra, numbering 75, was comprised of play-ers from many different cities and each player at a different level, it presented a very entertaining performance.

There were six other guest artists on the program – vocal, balalaika and bayan. The concert opened with the Luther College Balalaika Ensemble. Other performing groups were the Big-Rock Balalaikas, the Wash-ington Balalaika Society, the BDAA Liturgical Choir, and members from the Barynya Folk Ensemble.

I have nothing but praise for the ‘behind-the-scenes’ members of the BDAA who organized Russian Night where we were treated to Russian cuisine, and all the other occasions when we al-ways had a lovely buffet and refreshments.

Ira and I made many new

by NATALIA DENTON friends, especially the young people from the Luther College Balalaika Ensemble, who made us feel most welcome.

One of the most interesting things about the BDAA is that the organiza-tion gives scholarships at each con-vention. This year, Dmitri Nassyrov, 18-year old balalaika player from Montreal, was one of the recipients.

A silent auction, one of the fund-raisers for the scholarships, was held at the final banquet. A woman’s night-

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gown with ‘matroshkas’ on it valued at $8.00 was auctioned off for $385.00. As you can see, it was the cause that was more important than the article.

Many attending the convention ex-pressed the opinion that Ira should be included in future conventions. Ira was very grateful and expressed a mutual desire to return.

Ira’s domra class hard at work. Natalia Denton (blond) in the back

Ira in “jam” session with Svetlana Nikonova, Artistic Director of Washington Balalaika Society and conductor of convention “Festival” mass orchestra.

profit cultural institution to maintain and operate the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble.

Edna grew up in the Ukrainian community, giving declamatsiyi in Ukrainian, studying violin and folk dancing. In her later adult years, while working and raising a family, Edna always accompanied her mother, Helen Zalischuk (a member of the Guild’s pyrohy brigade) to Ensemble concerts.

After her retirement from the On-tario Public Service where, in addition to other responsibilities, she served as Special Advisor on Eastern European Initiatives, Edna volunteered to assist the Guild by bringing her expertise to the Development and Renewal Com-mittee.

As Chair of that Committee she helped begin a serious examination of what the future held for the Ensemble. She helped organize and played a positive role in focus group discus-sions as part of the Guild’s renewal project.

One of Edna’s greatest accomplish-ments was the securing of a 3-year Ontario Trillium grant which allowed the Guild to hire a part-time assistant for an extended program of market-ing and promotion and other valuable projects.

There is, of course, much more to be said about Edna Rigby. This will be done at the Annual Banquet on October 28 at Kings Garden Banquet Hall.

Tickets are $45.00 and are avail-able now. We urge you to book your tables in advance, bring your friends and come out in full force to honour Edna and show our appreciation for the years of capable leadership de-voted entirely to the wellbeing of the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble.

The Guild’s Annual Banquet to be held on Sunday, October 28 will honour Edna Rigby, past President of the Shevchenko Guild, for her years of volunteer service to the organization both as a member of various commit-tees and as Guild President from 2000 until February 2007.

It will also mark the 35th Anniver-sary of the National Shevchenko Musi-cal Ensemble Guild of Canada which was incorporated as a charitable, non-

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Banquet to Honour Edna Rigby

Edna Rigby, retired Guild President

Annual Fall Banquet

To Honour Edna Rigby

Sunday, October 28, 2007King’s Garden Banquet Hall

15 Canmotor Avenue

• Cocktails • Entertainment by Jeff Cardey & Co.

• Dinner and Tribute• Grand Final Draw of the

1000 Club Lottery

Reservations: $45.00 personCall the Ensemble office to book your

tickets and table for 8

Senior StarHelen Spiers, soloist with the Shev-chenko Choir, was chosen from an impressive list of contestants as First Place Winner in the Senior Star Idol Competition in the Greater Toronto Area.

Sponsored by the Chartwell Se-niors Housing Reit, the competition gives seniors a venue and opportunity to showcase their talents, both vocal and instrumental. Across Canada the competition attracted over 600 talented participants at 57 venues.

The tape of Helen’s first place win-ning performance will be viewed by a distinguished panel of judges who will select 10 finalists to compete at the National Competition Finals in Toronto in October.

To quote the local newspaper SNAP …“the majority of these talented men and women could easily perform on our nation’s top idol reality programs. The vocals were excellent and the energy was infectious.”

Helen was not only a “class act” in this competition, but is in every perfor-mance she gives with the Shevchenko Ensemble.

Helen’s repertoire ranges from familiar Broadway and opera tunes to folk and classical songs in Russian, Ukrainian, Italian, French and English.

Mark your calendar to hear Helen Spiers – and other top notch soloists – with the Toronto Mandolin Orches-tra in Glenn Gould Studio on Sunday, November 18, 2:00 p.m. See the details of this exciting concert on page 3.

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Annual Concert presented on occasion of 35th Anniversary of Shevchenko GuildMembers of the Shevchenko Musical paid tribute to the National Shevchenko Musical Ensemble Guild of Canada – the charitable organiza-tion incorporated in 1972 to maintain the Ensemble – in the best way they could. They played, sang and danced their hearts out on May 27 at the Annual Concert of the Ensemble.

The first half of the concert was devoted entirely to Ukrainian and Russian compositions by choir, orchestra, dancers and soloists.

The ‘overture’ to the concert was Ukrainian Fantasy performed by the orchestra. This set the stage for Tetyana Shkymba’s breathtaking perfor-mance with choir of Oi, pidu ya mezhi hory (I Will Go to the Foothills) by A. Kos-Anatolsky. The choir followed with Oi, divchyno, shumyt hai sung a cappella and the moving Molotba (Threshing) by G. Sviridov.

The Russian Dance by the Kaniv Dancers received warm applause and led the way for domra soloist Ira Erokhina who amazed the audience with Russian Dancing Tunes by A. Tsy-gankov and Flight of the Bumblebee. The orchestra completed this set with Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers from Nut-cracker Suite.

Artour Razgoev, a new tenor chorister and soloist with the Ensemble, appeared in the moving Ukrainian Cantata, Lichu v nevoli dni i nochi, words by Taras Shevchenko and music by D. Sichinsky. Bass Herman Rombouts performed a more modern song, Zoryana nich (Starlit Night) by Kos-Anatolsky accompa-nied by choir and orchestra.

The Kaniv Dancers got loud cheers from the audience for their closing of the first half with a traditional Hopak.

The second half of the concert was opened with the orches-tral selection Taming of the Fire by A. Petrov. Choir soloists Tania Podolska, Fred Panasiuk and Ferguson MacKenzie led in a very nice arrangment of the the Newfoundland song I’s the B’y. John Neiboer absolutely won the hearts of the audience with the contemporary song When I Fall in Love.

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Annual Concert presented on occasion of 35th Anniversary of Shevchenko Guild

Another favourite performer, soprano Helen Spiers, was enthusiastically ap-plauded for her renditions of Elegy by A. Dvorâk and Love Unspoken from the operetta “The Merry Widow” by F. Lehar.

The performance by choir and orchestra of Caccini’s Ave Maria, beautifully ar-ranged by Alexander Veprinsky, was exceptional and brought thunderous applause. This was followed by choir and orchestra in Zitti, Zitti (Quiet, Quiet) from Verdi’s opera Rigoletto.

After the orchestra’s fast paced performance of Rhumba by D. Kreydler, the program returned to its Ukrainian roots, ending the concert with a finale based on the opera “Cossack Beyond the Danube” by A. Hulak-Artemovsky. Arranged by Alexander Veprinsky with choreography by Andrei Pendik, it proved to be a very successful collaboration of creative talents.

Performed by the entire Ensemble of choir, orchestra and dancers, the finale featured soloists Artour Razgoev, Tetyana Shkymba, Herman Rombouts and John Nieboer.

The 64-page printed Souvenir Program contained a brief history and numerous photos reflecting the 35 years since the incorporation of the Na-tional Shevchenko Musical Ensemble Guild of Canada, paying tribute to the hundreds of volunteers who participated as active members over the years, as well as the thousands who have morally and financially supported the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble.

It stated: “It was a daring move…to incorporate a new organization to take on the serious responsibility of the life and well-being of a well estab-lished and well-loved performing arts group. The new organization could only survive if the members dedicated themselves to its growth…only if it gained the confidence and support of the community. Time has shown that both became a reality.”

The outstanding performances by the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble at-test to this each time it brings to the stage the cultural heritage of the Ukrai-nian people as well as the musical traditions of many others.

The young women of the Kaniv Dancers retuned to perform the Waltz from Shostakovich’s Jazz Suite with orchestra.

Macedonian mandolin tradition in CanadaAn integral part of the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Toronto Mandolin Orchestra in 2006 was the acknowl-edgment of the historical significance of mandolin schools and orchestras, established as early as 1922, in many different ethnic communities in Canada. Below is a story about children’s mandolin schools/orchestras in the Mace-donian community in Toronto. This article appeared in the Toronto Macedonian News in May, 2007.

Toronto in the 1930s and 40s, when I was growing up, was a lot differ-ent than it is today. There were ap-proximately 15-20,000 Macedonians in Toronto then with two churches and one “Club”, the Macedonian Peoples League. In those days in Toronto the Bulgarians were our friends. Both churches were with the Bulgarian exarchate and the Club was mutually owned with Bulgarians. In fact, grow-ing up at 386 Ontario Street, I didn’t distinguish between Macedonians and Bulgarians – we were all friends.

There were two main political fac-tions then – the Macedonian Political Organization which called the Club ‘communists’. and the Club who called the MPO ‘fascists’. There were many broken heads at that time.

But for us kids, who cared about politics – it was a wonderful time. We had Chris Dafeff!

“Duffy” as he was affectionately referred to, came to Toronto from the town of Radovesh, Macedonia in 1912 with only a few coins in his pocket, his mandolin and his love of music. He gathered a group of Macedonians and Bulgarians and established a drama circle and cultural evenings. He proceeded to give mandolin and violin lessons to as many Macedonians as possible whose parents could pay 10 cents per lesson and even to those children who could not pay.

We had several children’s orchestras and a wonderful choir called the Bal-kan Echo. I couldn’t wait to turn 16 so I could join the choir which performed all over Ontario and was part of the All Slav Concerts at Massey Hall in the 50s.

Saturdays and Sundays were par-ticularly wonderful days when we all

looked forward to the “Vercherinki”. Saturday nights were for youth dances and get-togethers. Every Sunday evening there was a “Vercherinka” which consisted of performances by the children’s orchestra with indi-vidual solos, declamatsii, (I can still remember my declamatsia at age 5), the Balkan Echo, and usually a play or operetta. Chris Dafeff’s most famous operetta was Malcho i Krachun. (My first kiss with my future husband was a stage kiss).

In 1922 the Ukrainians (Associa-tion of United Ukrainian Canadians) asked Chris Dafeff to become their music instructor in West Toronto (1579 Dupont St), which began our close as-sociation with the Ukrainian comunity. Later Chris’ hearing began to fail so Jimmy Cambell became the instructor for the Macedonian children’s orches-tra, the Balkan Echo and the Ukrainian orchestras. When Jimmy Cambell left Toronto, we were fortunate to have a

by VIRGINIA STOYMENOFF wonderful Ukrainian instructor, Bill Kuinka.

Unfortunately, the 1950s was a tur-bulent political time and our wonderful Club was disbanded. Bulgarian-Mace-donian acrimony reared its ugly head, and our children’s orchestra, choir and plays were also disbanded.

Those were dark years for us. It was a time when there was no place for my children to go. There were no children’s orchestras or Macedonian music instructors. But the Ukrainian cultural organizations (AUUC) were still going strong.

In 1980, after many years of not playing my mandolin, I joined the Toronto Mandolin Orchestra of the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble. As far as I am aware, I am the only one in any of the Macedonian children’s orches-tras who still plays in an organized mandolin orchestra. And, I must add, the finest mandolin orchestra in this country.

Macedonian Children’s Orchestra, 1945. Jimmy Cambell, conductor. Virginia Stoymenoff is the girl at the far left in the top row.

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A klezmer cruise on the DnieperBY ERIC STEIN

Last spring, I had the distinct privilege and honour to participate in the first ever “Klezmer Heritage Cruise” in Ukraine. Over 160 participants from Canada, the US, Europe, and Israel took part in this extraordinary event from April 29 to May 11.

Embarking at Kiev aboard the chartered MS Dnieper Princess, we sailed south along the mighty Dnieper River, passing through its impressive lochs and stopping at such cities as Dnieperpetrovsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson before reaching the Black Sea.

From there a detour southeast took us to the Crimean town of Sevastopol, which served as homebase for two nights while we explored this beautiful port city and made various day trips to significant sites around the Crimean peninsula. Following our Crimean interlude it was a rough overnight sail northwest across the Black Sea to the conclusion of our odyssey with three wonderful sun-soaked days in the leg-endary city of Odessa.

The visionaries behind this re-markable undertaking were Marc and AC Dolgin of Ottawa, working in tandem with Toronto’s Walter and Marina Ungar, who have operated a Mennonite Heritage Cruise along the same Dnieper route for many years.

The Dolgins re-designed the route with a Jewish history/heritage orientation and enlisted their musician son Josh Dolgin to hand-pick a crew of inter-national Klezmer luminaries to join him in providing the soundtrack to this unprecedented journey.

The stellar cast of musicians included David Krakauer, Alex Kon-torovich, Michael Alpert, Arkady Gendler, Bob Cohen, Guy Schalom, Vanya Zhuk, and myself. Rounding out the faculty was Yiddish dance instruc-tor Khayele Zilberberg, and Jewish history professor Eugene Orenstein of McGill University.

Passengers aboard our floating Jew-ish caravan, cleverly dubbed “Dnieper

See Klezmer cruise on page 11

Statue to Sholom Aleichem in Kiev. L to R: Susie Kucer, Marc Dolgin, Jeremy Dolgin, Drorit Weiss, Eric Stein, Alex Kontorovich

New monument at Babi Yar, Kiev

Susie Kucer at the market in SevastopolConcert at the Or Avner Jewish School in Dnieperpetrovsk. L to R: Eric Stein, Guy Schalom, Alex Kontorovich, David Krakauer, Josh Dolgin

Cats on Evreska Street in Odessa

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Les voix du coeur to appear with ShevchenkoLes voix du cœur, a Toronto-based French-Canadian choir founded in 1994, is a dynamic vocal group with four mixed voices. It offers a variety of popular songs from various French-speaking countries. Its 40 enthusiastic members rehearse every Wednesday and one Saturday a month to perform a few shows each year. These include a Christmas concert for Centres Héritage, a dinner-cabaret show at the Lula Lounge in February and an end of season show. The latter will be a theatrical show, complete with stage setting, costumes and sets. This year it will be presented at Glenn Gould Studio on Saturday, June 14th.

Les voix du coeur was also a co-founder 12 years ago of Singing Together, the concert series featuring choirs from different ethnic communities in Toronto, and participated in many of these concerts along with the Shevchenko Choir.

Manon Côté has been conductor of the vocal group since 1996. The group is accompanied on piano by Gabriel Drouin.

This popular and colourful performing group will appear as guest artists at the Winter Choral Concert, sponsored by the National Shevchenko

Musical Ensemble Guild of Canada, on January 27, 2008.

The concert has become an annual event to warm the hearts and souls on a cold winter day.

Over the years, in addition to showcasing Ukrainian choral traditions, the concert has featured Russian, Italian and Jewish choral groups as well as folk dancers.

This season’s event will be the first to feature a French-Canadian choral group as our guests.

Watch for more details of this concert in the months to come, but mark your calendar now so you won’t miss this wonderful winter event.

L’ensemble vocal Les voix du coeur 10th Anniversary in May, 2004

Manon Coté, Artistic Director Les voix du coeur

Manon Côté is now in her twelth season as artistic director of the vocal ensemble, Les voix du cœur, although as a chorister, she was one of its founding members. Ms. Côté holds a Bachelor of Communications and Marketing degree and is Head of Communications for Radio-Canada in Ontario.

Music has always held a special place in her life. She has classical training in piano, and has played, among other instruments, tuba and French horn, as well as having acted as musical director of a brass band for several years. Ms. Côté is currently undergoing vocal training, and turns her hand to songwriting on occasion. Dynamic and full of creative energy, she encourages ensemble members to surpass themselves on all levels of musical achievement. It is the determination and the enthusiasm of the group, according to her, that provide the fuel necessary to drive her creative vision.

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and much more. Also very memorable was an incredible downhome picnic lunch prepared for us by local residents deep in the heart of the Dnieper delta’s labyrinthine waterways near Kherson.

There are of course too many high-

lights to relate here, but hopefully this small selection of the 400+ photos I took on the trip will relate something of the experience.

All in all it was an incredible ex-perience and I look forward to visiting Ukraine again.

Shleppers,” ranged in age from twenty-somethings to octogenarians.Shleppers one and all enjoyed musical perfor-mances both on and off the boat, and learned about the history of Ukraine from both a national and Jewish per-spective.

In the cities along the way, we vis-ited important historical and Jewish sites, as well as surprisingly large and resurgent Jewish communities. Many of the Shleppers organized their own special side trips, visiting towns and shtetls (villages) to which they traced their ancestral roots.

One of the major highlights was the food. In a word: YUM! Of particu-larly note, the modest cafeteria-style restaurants I sampled in Kiev and Odessa, where for the princely sum of $3 I gorged on a wide assortment of delicious salads, pickles, cabbage borscht, varenyky, holubtsi, blyntsi,

Group photo of the Dnieper Shleppers on the Odessa Steps

Three dollar Ukraine feast

Lucky winners!Here are the winners in last season’s raffle drawn at the Annual Banquet sponsored by the Shevchenko Guild:

“Roses are Red” watercolour by

John Boyd and donated by John Boyd

won by Byron Kautto

Experimetal Exotic Stone Necklace

Designed, created and donated by Ann Sportun

won by Svetlana Starovska

Picnic Lunch in the Dnieper Delta

Oi, vey! That’s a real Cossack?

Moonlight on the river, near DnieperpetrovskBandurist in Zaporozhye

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Coming Events

Sunday, October 28, 2007ANNUAL GUILD BANQUETHonouring Edna Rigby who served as Guild Presidentin the past decade.King’s Garden Banquet Hall.Tickets: $45.00. Tickets and/or tables for 8 can be reserved by calling 416-533-2725.

Sunday, November 18, 2007ORCHESTRA CONCERTToronto Mandolin Orchestra with vocal and instrumental soloists: Ira Erokhina, domra, Jeff Cardey, classical guitar, Helen Spiers, soprano, Artour Razgoev, tenor and Herman Rombouts, bass. Glenn Gould Studio. 2:00 p.m.Tickets: $30.00 (VISA orders add $2.00 per ticket). 416-533-2725.

Sunday, December 2, 2007CLUB 626 CHRISTMAS PARTYUkrainian Cultural Centre1604 Bloor St. W • 1:00 p.m.Tickets: $25.00Call Olga Kowalchuk at416-267-3147 for ticketsEveryone welcome

Sunday, January 27, 2008WINTER CHORAL CONCERTShevchenko Choir and French choir Les voix du coeur.Columbus Centre 2:00 pm.

February date and venue to be confirmed.Fundraising luncheon and slide show of paintings by John Boyd who will celebrate his 95th birthday in January 2008.

March dates and venues to be announcedEXHIBIT OF HISTORICAL MANDOLIN PHOTOSOne of the events marking the 50th Anniversary of the Toronto Mandolin Orchestra, an exhibit of photos (some from as early as 1922) of mandolin schools and orchestras in many different ethnic communities in Canada, plus outstanding individual mandolin artists, both past and present. Sunday, May 25, 2008ANNUAL CONCERTSHEVCHENKO MUSICAL ENSEMBLE Folk, World and Classical music by choir, orchestra, and soloists.Leah Posluns Theatre.2:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008CLUB 626 SENIORSVOLUNTEER AWARDS LUNCHEONDetails of events, including venue, to be announced.

Sunday, June 8ANNUAL FAMILY PICNICof Shevchenko Musical Ensemble starting at noon.Slovak Camp, Mississauga.

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The BULLETIN Published semi-annually with the support of the City of Toronto through Issued by the National Shevchenko Musical Ensemble Guild of Canada, a federally incorporated charitable cultural institution, Reg. Nº 11905 1910 RR0001 626 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON M5S 2R1 • Phone 416-533-2725 • Fax 416-533-6348 E-mail: info-sme@bellnet.ca • www.shevchenkomusic.com • Editorial: Ginger Kautto Photography: Wayne Gilbert of GPS Digital Photo Images, Byron Kautto.

The National Shevchenko Musical Ensemble Guild

of Canada gratefully acknowledges contributions in memory

of the following:

In Fond Memory

Shura Jurowski2007

Hero Kielman2007

Ahafia Husak2007

Tekla Panasiuk2007

John Moroz2007

June Fosty2007