To the sound of the bandura...

Liudmyla Hramiak. Today she performed the Ukrainian folk song “Ivanku, Ivanku!” at the Estonian History Museum.

It was perhaps symbolic to hear the special Ukrainian colour in the singer’s voice filling the spacious hall of the Estonian museum to the brim… Every nation has its own special timbre, thanks to which we can tell, for example, a Spanish song from a Finnish one, a Bulgarian song from a Japanese one, and so on. Ukrainian songs are usually tender and drawn-out, marked by a poignant beauty that brings tears to our eyes…

Today these notes sounded especially delicate in the voice of singer Liudmyla Hramiak... Bandura players are a special caste of performers, because the instrument demands a matching sound from the singer: resonance and softness at once, subtlety and a deep feeling for music. That is why the art of bandura players has been and remains one of the most beloved in Ukraine. That the tender voice of the bandura now sounds so movingly in Estonia is largely thanks to Liudmyla Hramiak from Ternopil, a graduate of the Lviv Conservatory, who for the past two or three years has lived permanently in Tallinn, having joined her family – her husband and son... The management of the Sunday school “Nadiia” took the opportunity to invite Mrs Liudmyla to teach music at the school, to maintain and develop in children of Ukrainian origin a respectful attitude to their national culture, traditions and songs… Liudmyla Hramiak took on this responsibility and within two years, together with her colleague Alla Inno-Yakymenko and the pupils, created a distinctive bandura ensemble that performs successfully at many concert venues, endlessly delighting and even surprising audiences!

That was the case today, when the Sunday school pupils, led by teacher Liudmyla Hramiak, performed the concert programme “Christmas Music Evening”… At the end of the programme the singer performed the folk song “Ivanku, Ivanku”, which is usually performed with pleasure to the bandura. Liudmyla Hramiak constantly deepens her knowledge of Estonian culture; she has already passed the Estonian language exam and rightfully works at an Estonian-language kindergarten.

After the concert, the audience, who welcomed Liudmyla’s performance with particular enthusiasm, expressed the wish that in the near future she would give a solo programme where we could hear the singer’s wonderful, heartfelt voice accompanied by the bandura. Friends, we will certainly let you know the time and place of such a concert. The New Year, the Year of the Tiger, has only just begun, so let us together wish our talented musician and teacher Liudmyla Hramiak creative inspiration, health and strength to cope with everything, so that she can soon delight us with her art!