The history of the Dmytro Bortnianskyi Chamber Choir started back in 1996. The organizer and the first conductor was Lyubomyr Bodnaruk, merited artist of Ukraine. The first members of the choir primarily were graduates of the Revutsky School oi Music in Chernihiv.Their performance that took place in December of 1997 in the Lysenko Columnar Hall at Ukraine's National Philharmonic was quite a good start for the young group. At once they caught the ear of leading composers, conductors, and figures in cultural circles.
The Choir works at promoting academic choral song. However, their incessant search for different works has resulted in a repertoire that is so large and diverse, that it is already difficult to place their works within specific boundaries. Amongst the works that are performed by the collective are the artistic achievements of Dmytro Bortnianskyi, Maksym Berezovskyi, Mykola Leontovych and the works of Lesia Dychko, Bohdan Fil'ts, Hanna Havrylets, Levko Kolodub, Volodymyr Tylyk and many other composers. With equal ease the choir performs traditional works, as well as the most unique, and most extravagant avant-garde works. The manner in which the choir executes its works is differentiated from other choirs by an acute feeling of poetic melody of the texts and coordinated sonorous voices. Last but not least the collective's wide recognition could be attributed to the original and incredibly emotional and refined manner of its conductor Lyubomyr Bodnaruk.
In a very short time that the chamber choir has existed it has managed to achieve a praiseworthy place in | Ukrainian culture. It has participated in many festivals, which include: "Music Premiers of the Season", "Music Fest" (1998-2001), The "Mria-1999" International Choral Festival (L'viv), "Peredzvin-2000" (Ivano-Frankivsk), and the "Carmina-2000" Choral Festival (Hlivice, Poland). One of the greatest successes of the collective came at the Third International Festival-Competition for Chamber Choirs entitled "Yalta-Victoria 2001", where the received the Grand-Prix. This achievement received resonant praise from the press and from figures in cultural circles.
A particular colorful page in the history ol the collective was a period of artistic cooperation with well-known [I figures of Ukrainian culture - Valeriy Buymistcr, Victor Subachev and Valentyna Stepova, as well as merited artists oi' I Ikraine Lyudmyla Davymukha and Larisa Rohovets. This cooperation resulted in great success and invaluable experience.
At the beginning of 2004 the collective toured Bavaria (Munich, Memmingem, and Ulm at the Bavarian Festival of Evangelical-Lutheran Church). In April of 2004 they participated in a festival in Hlivice, Poland, which celebrated Poland's accession to the European union.
The Dmytro Bortnianskyi Cnoir continues to I ruithilly work, and lives a very saturated creative life. Its number of fans continues to grow. This is evidence to the increasing number of people who appreciate culture, in particular youth, and an understanding of the role art plays in the upbringing of a younger generation of Ukrainians.
photo from: http://www.obriy.pib.com.ua/2008/17_08/08.shtml
