Some Milwaukee-area people with strong ties to Ukraine say performing music has become even more important to them as their homeland, or ancestral homeland, continues its fight against Russia's invasion.
Maria Foit was born in Ukraine and has a B.A. in Piano Pedagogy and Piano Accompaniment from Odessa National Music Academy. She left her homeland after Russia attacked nearly 24 months ago and has been living in the Milwaukee area for about a year. She teaches music here.
But Foit still worries about many friends and relatives in Ukraine. And to honor her culture, Foit occasionally plays the music of Ukrainian composers. Such as a waltz by Myroslav Skoryk, who died in 2020, and was sometimes known as the People's Artist of Ukraine.
Foit says since the war started, she's stepped up her interest in modern and longer-ago Ukrainian composers to understand better the strength of a country fighting against a much larger opponent.
"Sometimes you don't know from where my nation takes this power, and this wisdom for everything, and then you (go) back to the past, and it gives you the sense from the art," Foit says.
Foit has connected with several other local musicians who were born in Ukraine or have ancestors who lived there, including Krystia Nora, a mezzo-soprano who, 20 years ago, recorded a compact disc titled Ukrainian Dreams.
Among the pieces on the album: Lullaby by Ukrainian composer Viktor Kosenko.
Nora was born in the U.S. and teaches English at MATC. But 80 years ago, one of her grandmothers was a radio and opera star in Ukraine. Nora has cousins and friends in her ancestral homeland, and says performing Ukrainian music also helps her cope with the worry of war.
"This is what Ukrainians do, especially in times of strife. We create music, and we perform, and we have concerts. My grandparents did it through World War II. My great-grandmother through World War I. We organize, we bring ourselves together as a community. We share who we are with the rest of the world," Nora says.
On Dec. 14, about a dozen musicians with Ukrainian roots performed as duets or trios — or with local Ukrainian church choirs and dance groups — at a concert at Saint Robert Roman Catholic Church in Shorewood. The non-profit group Wisconsin Ukrainians, which raises funds for non-military needs in Ukraine, held the event to raise money for injured soldiers in need of prosthetics.
The selections included Shchedryk (Ukranian Bell Carol) a very-well known melody crafted from a folk song 107 years ago by Ukraine composer Mykola Leontovych. It is often known today as the holiday song, Carol of the Bells.
Irina Yanovska on guitar and Mikhael Litvin on mandolin performed the song.
That sort of gem from Ukrainian culture is under threat from the Russian invasion, says Nora, who also cites military attacks on art and history museums.
"There have been so many attempts to destroy it entirely. And we take what survives, and we celebrate it and celebrate who we are," Nora says.
As Republicans in Congress and Democratic President Joe Biden debate whether to reach a deal on more aid to help Ukraine fight Russia, the local musicians hope to preserve what they say should be timeless.
