December 2: Winter Songs - Koliada and Music from the Carpathian Mountains

Winter Songs: Koliada and Music from the Carpathian Mountains

Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 8pm
Memorial Chapel, 221 High Street, Middletown
$15 general public; $13 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students

The Koliadnyky, five male singers from the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine, will sing traditional winter songs from the village of Kryvorivnia, accompanied by a “troista” (trio) of instrumentalists, and special guests including bandurist Julian Kytasty, members of Hartford's Yevshan Ukrainian Vocal Ensemble, and Wesleyan’s own a cappella group Slavei.

The Koliada is a winter ritual that coincides with Christmas, but pre-dates that holiday in some parts of Eastern Europe. High in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Hutsul villages where the oldest songs are preserved, Koliada is considered to be the most important event of the year. Groups of male singers visit each family and sing ancient songs that are believed to hold special powers. According to tradition, spring and the harvest will not come unless the songs are sung in every household.

The performance will be followed by a reception in the Zelnick Pavillion.

Presented by Yara Arts Group. For more information please click here.

Co-sponsored by the Center for the Arts, Music Department, Russian House, Russian Studies, Slavei, and the Ukrainian Self Reliance Credit Union.