Pages from AUOE’s creative history. For the association’s 20th anniversary

Dear friends, on 30 May this year it will be exactly 20 years since the Statutes of the Ukrainian association AUOE were officially approved.

Taking this opportunity, on behalf of the Association’s leadership we would like to address the heads and members of creative groups, as well as musicians, singers, actors and all the creative people who for 20 years have supported and developed our Ukrainian culture with dedication and done everything for the cultural integration of our compatriots into Estonian society.

First of all, there is our choir “Ukraina” of the society “Prosvita”. The choir has existed for more than 20 years and has remained at a high level all this time thanks to its talented leaders over the years:

• Hardi Alet (of blessed memory);
• Ene Uibo;
• Stanislava Šeljahhovski;
• Nataliia Popova.

Each leader naturally brought their own unique character to the group’s work. For more than 10 years the quartet “Susidky”, led by the talented musician from Ukraine Mykola Rybchenko, delighted us with its art.

A laureate of many international festivals and competitions, a constant participant and essentially a founder of our own creative festivals – the dance ensemble “KOLOR” and its long-standing artistic director, also the director of our large events, Nina Gets-Koort. Nina runs her own school of Slavic gymnastics and leads a creative group at the Tondiraba association. 

We are proud that on the basis of the Sunday school “Nadiia”, thanks to its talented teachers Liudmyla Hramiak and Alla Inno-Yakymenko, the only distinctive bandura ensemble in Estonia was created.

We should also remember with gratitude the singers Yevhen Hetmantsev, Valentyna Peshkolva and Tamara Fedorovska – members of the music theatre “Solo”, which at one time very actively helped our societies realise their creative ideas.

Viacheslav Reznichenko – today a well-known vocalist, head of the Tallinn music theatre, author and host of themed concert programmes and, in essence, the Association’s number one voice for many years. 

The creative groups of the society “Vitchyzna” in Pärnu, which were active in their time and still are today: the youth ensemble “Veselka”, led by Valentyna Sut, and the currently active vocal ensemble “Barvinok”, led by both Liudmyla Fainytska and musician Mykola Rybchenko.

The instrumental duo “Light and Shadows” – Mykola and Raisa Rybchenko, whose mastery has won over many listeners in different audiences.

The children’s and youth vocal ensemble “Rushnychok” and the adult ensemble “Edelweiss” of the Ukrainian community society “Vodohrai” in Sillamäe, now under the artistic direction of Svitlana Stashkevych…

The youth instrumental ensemble “Melodiia” led by Ivan Shchoholiev. For more than 19 years the ensemble has taken part in the festival “Flowers of Ukraine”, and in its time successfully performed at international festivals in Yalta and Bulgaria. Sadly, one of the group’s founders and teachers, Olena Shchoholieva, has also passed away, but we will always remember her.

The youth group of the Saturday school and society “Kalyna” in Valga, now led by Ruslana Dovha, with musical direction by Svitlana Shabunina.

The art groups of the creative studio “Mriia”, led by our Olha Horianska, including the choir successfully led for the past 10 years by the wonderful musician Henri Tron, and now the vocal ensemble SOUL SINGERS, which performs themed programmes and graces the studio’s themed concerts and performances under Olha Horianska’s direction.

We would like to thank the choir “Zhuravlyna”, essentially the core of the society “Chervona Ruta” in Tapa, whose performances adorn Tapa Parish’s music programmes and various festival and themed concerts. The choir’s artistic director Iryna Solomatina has led the group for many years with her special energy and musical talent. Iryna also performs successfully as a soloist, and recently she and Nadiia Samorukova formed the vocal duo “Vesna”.

We thank the talented folk instrument orchestra “Dibrova”, led by Nataliia Voronova, for fruitful cooperation and support; it was once part of the Association and now leads an independent life.

We are grateful to the now very well-known vocal-instrumental ensemble “Chary” and its soloist, the talented singer and bandura player Liudmyla Marych. From the first days of the Ukrainian association, Liudmyla and her musician friends have supported all our large events.

We cannot fail to mention the famous Sorochyntsi Fair in Maardu. It was inspired by our compatriot Mykola Shvets, who put a great deal of effort into presenting Ukrainian folk culture in Estonia at a high level.

For a long time the talented baritone singer and musical director of a vocal ensemble, Lev Lipkin from Sillamäe, performed successfully on the same stage with us. Although for well-known reasons our paths have parted somewhat recently, we cannot fail to mention this talented man with gratitude.

It is hard to imagine our festivals and themed events without the folk ensemble “Zhurba”, led by Volodymyr Leibiuk.

The Association’s events are quite often supported by the talented vocal ensemble “Kalyna” of the Ukrainian community society in Narva, led by Nadiia Kuznietsova.

The vocal ensemble “Barvinok” from Rakvere, led by Svitlana Fursova, with which I personally and our Ukrainians in Tapa have cooperated for many years.

We thank the vocal ensembles “Yatran” and “Stozhary” from Maardu for their cooperation.

In general, it is worth noting the fruitful cooperation between diaspora groups regardless of their affiliation – whether the Congress of Ukrainians or the Association – and in this, as they say, lies our strength.

We are grateful for the support of creative groups and soloists from various national associations in Estonia: Belarusians, Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Poles, Ingrian Finns and, above all, Estonians ..  

The Association’s creative life is richly complemented by the cultural club “Kryla”, which operates at the cultural centre. Recently it has been joined by professional musicians – Liudmyla Hramiak, who also leads the bandura ensemble of the Sunday school “Nadiia”; Alona Duminika – instrumentalist, singer and a person of inexhaustible creative energy; the duo “Lileia” of the Perkov sisters; Petro Zotovych – musician and showman; Oleksandr Dubrovskyi – singer and skilled reciter; Liudmyla Zheludova – a talented singer who has supported all our creative projects since the Association’s first steps and remains a loyal friend of Ukrainians despite her Russian roots; and young creatives from Ukraine Olesia Udras and Kristina Rahulina.

It is hard to imagine the success of our concerts and festivals without the support of leading professional musicians in Estonia, including our compatriots, thanks to whom our concerts and festivals reach a fairly high standard. We are sincerely grateful for this to Ruslan Trochynskyi, Mariia Kondratieva, Pavlo Balakin, Roman Chervinko, Yana Boiko, Karyna Amirkhanian, Andrii Bohach, Kseniia Kuchukova, Edi Zakharova, Elina Nechaieva, Olena Brazhnyk, Olesia Litnievska, Tetiana Hudym, Olha Zaitseva, Liubov Prokopenko (LEONA) and Lia DENI. We warmly thank the Estonian musicians Pille Lill, Mati Palm, Mart Kroon, Indrek Jurtšenko, Aleksander Arder, Jüri Aarma, Diana Klass, Silvi Vrait and Jaa Jürisson, Anne Veski and Jüri Homenja, who over the years have gladly supported our societies’ creative projects and graced them with their participation.

The Association’s creative life is hard to imagine without such talented people as the poet Nataliia Batsanova, author of more than 500 poems, who gives creative evenings and has written the anthems of our festivals and song lyrics. Almost every Sunday we see new poems on various topics on Nataliia Batsanova’s Facebook page, and we are glad, because it means our life goes on despite everything…

We are glad to follow the creative achievements of the artist Dmytro Dobrovolskyi, whose works have been exhibited in galleries and are in private collections in many countries. Recently the family creative duo has been joined by the achievements of Dmytro’s wife, Nina Dobrovolska.

The slogan “Together we are many!” fits best the work of the Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia, which unites our compatriots and makes sure that we Ukrainians are respected among people, as everything that happens in Ukraine also affects our diaspora. Through dialogue and understanding with people we must move forward and help our homeland build a truly democratic society and raise the wellbeing of our people.

History must go on. AUOE works to make information about the internal and external life of its communities available to a wide audience. Its leadership keeps its finger on the pulse, telling more about each community and the people who have shaped and are shaping the history of the Ukrainian diaspora in Estonia today. Materials are published on the Facebook page Ukraina Organisatsioonide Assotsiatsioon Eestis and on the official website of  AUOE

Happy holiday, dear friends, and thank you sincerely for everything!

Liubov Laur, Deputy Chair of the AUOE Board