New season of the cultural club “Kryla”

On 18 September 2022, AUOE’s cultural club “Kryla” (“Wings”) successfully opened its 9th season.

We are pleased to note that the club family has been joined by new talented creative people.

We are glad to tell you about them. So, meet:

Linguist and teacher Nataliia Chebotarova from Kropyvnytskyi, who richly complemented the musical programme presenting new names with poems by Ukraine’s best-known poets, Vasyl Symonenko and Lina Kostenko.

With extensive experience as a teacher of Ukrainian language and literature, Mrs Nataliia promised to join the club’s work in literary studies to broaden our horizons, especially in contemporary Ukrainian literature. Tetiana Kychenko is a singer and vocal teacher from Kyiv. Having ended up in Estonia for well-known reasons, the professional vocalist from Ukraine was at last able to realise herself again and perform for listeners, the members of the cultural club “Kryla”. Her accompanist was Sofiia Kovalevska, a student of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, who also settled in the Estonian capital with her family after leaving Mariupol in circumstances similar to Tetiana’s.

Yesterday’s performance by our talented compatriots was a kind of preview before a concert in a large, spacious concert hall, where in due course Tetiana Kychenko and Sofiia Kovalevska will present an extensive programme of world classical vocal works. We will soon let you know the date, friends.

A young, beautiful woman from Zaporizhzhia, Liliia Palinkash, had to leave her home city a few months ago with her six-year-old child to find refuge in Estonia. Here she quickly settled in and even found a job, but a creative person, especially a singer, wants to realise herself in her favourite genre – singing. Thanks to the support of the Ukrainian community in Estonia, Liliia has already been able to show her skills to local audiences several times, including performances in Rakvere and Tallinn at community events.

Of course, Liliia very much wants to expand her vocal activity in Estonia – whether concert work or even vocal teaching – the main thing is to fulfil her creative ambitions. The Ukrainian community promised to support the singer in every way and, where possible, involve her in all our creative projects.

In the programme opening the creative season of the club “Kryla”, Liliia Palinkash, accompanied by Olena Ilnitska, performed rather demanding vocal works: M. Zherbin’s song “Plyve moia dusha” (“My Soul Floats”) and French composer Jules Massenet’s “Ouvre tes yeux bleus”, earning friendly cries of “Bravo” and words of thanks from the audience.

The programme concluded with a performance by the Kovalevskyi family from Mariupol: the father, Petro Kovalevskyi, an established performer of his own and contemporary songs well known in Ukraine and especially in his region, eastern Ukraine, was joined by his three charming daughters Sofiia, Liza and Polina. As one listener wrote in a comment under one of their videos: “this is a case where nature did not take a rest on the children”. Indeed, each girl is musically gifted and has her own unique face in the genre. Especially talented is the eldest, Sofiia, who after graduating from the Donetsk Conservatory in piano continued her studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has won several international competition awards and, besides her mastery of the instrument, has shown remarkable vocal ability; today, supporting her family in their difficult situation as refugees, Sofiia can often be seen with her father and sisters as a street musician.

The Kovalevskyi family performed several well-known songs, including pieces from the repertoire of Okean Elzy and Serhii Babkin in their own family interpretation.

Among those at the club evening were well-known members who have been the “honour and glory” of “Kryla” in recent years: Alona Duminika – instrumentalist, vocalist and recently regent of the church choir “Oranta”, who prepared a programme of sacred songs to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day; Iryna Solomatina – artistic director of the choir “Zhuravka” and a constant participant in all the Ukrainian community’s concert programmes; Nadiia Trieskova – recently a singer in the well-known folk ensemble “Zhurba” and a reliable support and helper to the head of the club “Kryla”; Zinaida Vinchura – a member of the ensemble of folk song and dance “Oksamyt” from Zaporizhzhia, well known in Ukraine. This year our folk singer celebrated a milestone birthday, so club members warmly congratulated our charming woman – a mother and a true patriot of her land.

For the first time the professional actor Yevhen Kravets dropped by the club “Kryla”; fate brought him and his wife Vira to Estonia, like thousands of our compatriots. Yevhen does not yet have a permanent job, but we hope that he and his wife will find their place in Estonia’s creative family; meanwhile the club promised to find him a guitar for practice to keep his vocal form.

Singer and vocal teacher Liubov Prokopenko, stage name LEONA, is a rare guest at the club, but this time she also came, enjoyed talking with her creative kindred spirits and sang “Cheremshyna” for us. Singing has always been and remains the foundation of the club “Kryla”: it is songs that have united us for the past nine years, shaped our views and filled our souls; through song we got to know one another, and with a song our meetings always ended. So it was this time too. Our unique “Oi chyi to kin stoit” rang out in many voices, reminding each of us again and again who we are and whose children we are! We look forward to new meetings and creative achievements, and we warmly invite our compatriots – both those who have long lived in Estonia and newcomers – to join our circle: you will be welcome here and find warmth and sincere hearts.

Liubov Laur, head of the club “Kryla”