The Ukrainian Art Song Project invites you to enjoy an evening concert with internationally renowned bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka on Thursday July 23, 2009 in a truly unique concert venue -the Rosewood Estates Winery and Meadery.

Hunka’s extraordinary career has allowed him to reign as one of Europe’s foremost interpreters of bass-baritone operatic repertoire. Yet it is the Ukrainian art song that has captured his heart. His astounding versatility, exceptional musicianship and commanding stage presence allows Hunka to create an intimate and mesmerizing experience for the audience.

The evening is a rare opportunity for both serious opera lovers and Ukrainian art song aficionados to enjoy Hunka perform a selection of Ukrainian art songs and to share his passion for this genre in an informal setting. Guests will also have an opportunity to get up close and personal with the winemaking process. Owners, Renata and Eugene Roman will be available to conduct tours of their facility and to answer questions about their winemaking. This is a fundraising event for the Art Songs of Mykola Lysenko supported by the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce.
 
The Rosewood Estates Winery and Meadery is one of the newest wineries in the Beamsville bench region of Ontario.  Situated atop a gently rolling hill it enjoys an expansive vista of the surrounding grape groves. This small-batch winery has already won recognition as a prime VQAO quality producer of numerous award winning red and white wines as well as of unique mead (honey wine) offerings.

Background info:
As the artistic director of the Ukrainian Art Song Project, Hunka is in Toronto, Ontario this summer to complete the mastering of the six-CD compilation of the art songs of Mykola Lysenko and to begin recording the art songs of Yakiv Stepovyi at the Glenn Gould Studio. The world premiere of the Ukrainian Art Song Project's six-CD compilation of Lysenko's art songs will take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto on Sunday, April 11, 2010.

The Rosewood Estates is located at 4352 Mountainview Rd. in Beamsville, Ontario.

Tickets @ $150 for this fundraising event may be purchased from the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce by email at info@cucc.ca or by phone at 416-253-6700.

Internationally renowned bass-baritone and artistic director of the Ukrainian Art Song Project, Pavlo Hunka, is back in Toronto this weekend after a busy Winter on the opera stage in Europe to sing at Easter celebrations (on the Julian calendar) in several parishes.

On Good Friday, April 17, 2009, at 7 p.m., Hunka will be singing the Jerusalem Matins at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 143 Franklin Avenue; On Holy Saturday, April 18, 2009, Hunka will be singing the Resurrection Matins at 9 p.m. at St.Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church, 4 Bellwoods Avenue; and

On Easter Sunday, Hunka will be at the St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, 400 Bathurst Street, singing the Apostol at around 8 a.m. during the Easter Divine Liturgy.

Come and enjoy this rare opportunity to hear the rich tones of the world acclaimed opera star in the intimate settings of some of the most beautiful churches in Toronto.

Hunka plans a lengthier stay in Toronto in late Spring and Summer 2009 to complete the mastering of the six-CD compilation of the art songs of Mykola Lysenko and to record 56 art songs of Yakiv Stepovyi at the Glenn Gould Studio. The world premiere of the Ukrainian Art Song Project's six-CD compilation of Lysenko's art songs will take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto on Sunday, April 11, 2010.

An Interview with Roman Hurko

When Roman Hurko first met world-renowned bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka 5 years ago, the musical chemistry was instant and it became quickly apparent to Hurko that he and Hunka had very similar aspirations about the mission of bringing the Ukrainian classical repertoire to the world of music. The two men became excited about the possibility of working on a project together. "We frst discussed the possibility of starting a new Ukrainian-Canadian opera company, but we decided that it would be much more realistic to focus on Ukrainian art songs... Read More

Where in the World?

A 2009 update on Pavlo Hunka

After beginning a busy opera season in Europe earlier this year, Pavlo Hunka will arrive to Toronto, Ontario in April to continue the mastering and production of the Mykola Lysenko art song CDs and start recording Yakiv Stepovyi's art songs. In February 2009, Hunka starred to great acclaim as Balstrode in Britten's Peter Grimes at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Hunka is only the second artist of Ukrainian descent–after Solomiya Krushelnytska–to appear there! Ukraine's Consul General to Italy, Volodymyr Karacentsev attended the premiere and spoke highly of Hunka in a joint television interview. Read More

Other Features Include:

-New Thesis Focuses On Stetsenko Art Songs

-More about Butterfield and Hunka to perform Ukrainian art songs at Timms Centre in April

-More about Roman Hurko

Inaugurating the Alberta phase of the Ukrainian Art Song Project and performing the art songs of Mykola Lysenko, Kyrylo Stetsenko, and Yakiv Stepovyi, with piano accompaniment by Dr. Joachim Segger

Sunday 26 April 2009 3:00 p.m. Timms Centre Lobby 87 Ave. & 112 St. hosted by Opera Canada's Bill Rankin and catered by Taste of Ukraine. Admission $50. For tickets please contact Luba at (780) 464-6480 See Invite The Ukrainian Art Song Project is pleased to raise the curtain on the inaugural issue of "Spotlight," our quarterly e-newsletter. Please click here for the latest updates on our artists, our recent events, our upcoming projects and our wonderful donors and supporters. Look for the next issue of "Spotlight" in February 2009. Photos from the successful event Discover the Art Songs of Mykola Lysenko are in our gallery.

On May 26, 2008 Musica Leopolis hosted An Evening with Pavlo Hunka and Friends at The Richard Bradshaw Amphitheater in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Click here to view the photos. Internationally renowned British bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka joins a star-studded cast in the now-playing Canadian Opera Company's production of Pelléas et Mélisande.

Performances take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W., Toronto, Ontario from May 6 to May 24, 2008.

In this Claude Debussy's only completed opera, Prince Golaud (Pavlo Hunka) discovers the mysterious Mélisande (Isabel Bayrakdarian, soprano) lost in the forest near his castle. Enchanted, he marries her and brings her to his home. There she is drawn to Pelléas, Golaud's half-brother (Russell Braun, baritone), and in time the two fall dangerously in love. Even though they never consummate their love, Golaud is very jealous. Ultimately, Golaud's jealousy leads to tragic consequences.

See the performance of Pelléas et Mélisande: May 6, 9, 14, 17, 20 and 22, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.; May 24 at 4:30 p.m.; and May 11 at 2:00 p.m.

Read The National Post review here
Read The Globe and Mail review here
The new recording by The Ukrainian Art Song Project is currently in production. The current efforts are focused on Mykola Lysenko, the father of Ukrainian classical music.

The documentation of Lysenko's art songs is a major endeavour - 124 songs, almost 4 times the size of the Stetsenko recording, almost 6 hours music. For this reason, 14 of Canada's foremost musicians have been invited to join the Lysenko project. Combined with the spearheading efforts of British bass-baritone Pavlo Hunka, we are pleased to welcome back our previous collaborators Albert Krywolt, Russell Braun, Benjamin Butterfield and Roman Borys. In addition, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Allyson McHardy, Monica Whicher, Krisztina Szabó, Michael Colvin, Doug Stewart (flute), Serouj Kradjian (piano), Mia Bach (piano), Elizabeth Turnbull and Robert Gleadow will also be applying their talents to the beauty of Lysenko's music.

Listen now to a preview of 8 tracks of Mykola Lysenko's work being compiled for the production.

The Ukrainian Art Song Project is currently producing the Art Songs of Mykola Lysenko recorded at the Glenn Gould Studios under the recording label Musica Leopolis. The Lysenko recording will be complete by the end of 2008 and will be launched in early 2009.

Check back soon as more information is added. Musica Leopolis is proud to announce the release its first CD – The Art Songs of Kyrylo Stetsenko. The Double CD set includes 42 songs composed by Kyrylo Stetsenko, performed by Pavlo Hunka with collaborating artists Albert Krywolt, Russell Braun, Benjamin Butterfield and Roman Borys.

The songs evoke the rich melodic lines of Tchaikovsky and Schumann. This release is highly recommended for all lovers of classical music!