New Ukrainian Opera Myth is Getting on a Big Stage Ukraine offers to the world opera stage an exquisite combination of the ancient songs and modern art Photo credit: Rostyslav Pavlyk The New Opera try-outs started to date, on September 2. This piece of art will present the ancient and modern Ukraine for the world audience. Opera “Ukraine – Terra Incognita” combines the folk polyphony with free jazz, modern symphonic music, video art and the innovative technologies. In this unusual format opera vocals are replaced with traditional singing. The plot is built from the lyrics of folk songs. The authors called it the “opera-myth”. National premiere of the opera-myth “Ukraine – Terra Incognita” is scheduled for October 14 at the Lviv Opera House. The Day of Ukraine’s Defenders is specially chosen due to the opera dedication to Vasyl Slipak, baritone opera singer and Ukrainian soldier. Lullabies and Chumak, Cossack and Recruits’, wedding and ritual songs, ritual mourning, playing and whisperings from various parts of Ukraine will sound the same as hundreds years ago. The ancient songs that sprouted through human lives from generation to generation will go together with modern art on the opera stage. «All you hear and see in this new Ukrainian opera, in particular at the same time, does open the senses. There exists something – something through, something over and something under – something that prevents us from giving this land away. It is invisible and intangible, unspeakable and inexpressible. We can only feel the meaning for this land for ourselves – so incomprehensible to strangers and so native to us”, – says Uliana Horbachevska, opera author and director. Uliana Horbachevska, researcher of archaic singing, and Maria Oliynyk, composer and graduate of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, composed the music for “Ukraine – Terra Incognita”. The opera-myth is created by a young generation of Ukrainian artists from various Ukrainian cities, theater and music environments. More on the artists The idea of the opera matured for few years. In 2020, it was only presented in a video format due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the grand staging will pave the way for a new Ukrainian art onto the world opera stage. Tickets Do not miss and follow the announcement on the web page ukraine-young-opera.com Subscribe to the opera pages Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

The project is implemented by the youth civil organization YMCA Lviv (YMCA Lviv) in a partnership with Vayl Slipak Foundation supported by the Ukrainian Culture Fund. Opera video production was possible due to the donations in 2020 on the crowdfunding platform Spilnokosht, and due to support of UCF and the International Renaissance Foundation. In 2021, the national premiere of “Ukraine – Terra Incognita” will take place at the Lviv Opera House. In the coming years, the opera myth plans to be staged in other cities of Ukraine and out of Ukraine. In particular, it is important for the project team to stage the opera in Paris, where Vasyl Slipak lived and sang. Opera teaser In collaboration with: Lviv National Opera, Cultural Strategy Institute, Lviv Concert House Main information partner: Radio Svoboda Information partners: The Day, ZAXID.NET, Music magazine

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