Singing Parliament
Pyriatyn recently hosted a tour… of lawmakers and employees of the Verkhovna Rada
It appears that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine does not only pass laws (and sometimes quarrels and even fights). Sometimes it also sings. The lawmakers (of past and present convocations) and employees of the parliament take part in the VR choir. This institution comprises over 1,500 people.
The choir did not only sing in the session hall of the VR but also in the National Philharmonic Society. Several times the choir went on tour, and recently brought to Pyriatyn (Poltava oblast) a grand concert program with the Veriovka Choir orchestra of folk instruments. By the way, Zynovii Korinets, director of the Veriovka Choir, is the leader of the group. Let us remind that the VR choir was established seven years ago. Borys Ponomarenko, lawmaker of the second convocation, initiated this idea. He is also the executive director of the International Charitable Fund of National Memory of Ukraine. Four years ago the choir received a national choir title.
The Poltava land warmly welcomed the singers from the capital. The full house showed that the singing of Ukrainian lawmakers is just as interesting for people as live sessions. The audience was there one hour before the beginning of the concert and saluted the performance. After the concert was over The Day talked to the initiator of the amateur choir:
“The idea of creating the VR choir occurred to me when I was a lawmaker.” Ponomarenko reminisces. “With friends and like-minded people we planned the creation of such a choir, which would boost the lawmaking body’s stature as a spiritual center. There are different opinions about Ukrainian Parliament in society, and sometimes they are not positive at all. There are qualified lawmakers and professional ‘fighters.’ We also wanted the choir to become a source of inspiration and spirituality. When Ivan Pliushch, the then speaker, invited me to work for the VR, I turned to Anatolii Korysko, the head of the art establishments department at the Ministry of Culture, with a request to find a person who would be able to head a group of people who were in love with Ukrainian songs. Korysko recommended Korinets, who was the head conductor of the Hryhorii Veriovka National Honored Academic Choir.
“Our first performance took place on March 8, 2003. We greeted the female lawmakers with emotional Ukrainian songs. At first we had the rehearsals in the VR hall, and then Korinets invited us to the Veriovka Choir premises, which are located in the House of Artistic Collectives. It has wonderful acoustics and marvelous aura. Our choir sounded perfect from the start. Maybe the reason was that sometimes Anatolii Avdiievsky, the guru of Ukrainian song, came to our rehearsals. He carefully listened to us and made corrections. You know, when we felt his presence, we were singing the best we could. Once Avdiievsky said, ‘ You did a unique thing because no other parliament in the world has something similar!’ We are so grateful to Avdiievsky and Korinets that they have been taking care of us for seven years already.
“The choir’s current repe-rtoire consists of mostly folk songs and the works of modern composers. Viktor Zhenchenko, honored artist of Ukraine, joined our collective. He is not only a wonderful bass singer but also an amazing poet. He reads his poems on stage. The lawmaker Oleksandr Hudyma also is an excellent bass. We believe that as long as our native language and song live the Ukrainian nation will live too.”
It was quite an unexpected invitation for Korinets, the national artist and director of the renowned Veriovka Choir, to head the Verkhovna Rada choir.
“Such an idea is unique, not only for Ukraine but throughout the world,” Korinets says. “It interested me very much (the uniqueness of the choir, not some bonuses or material rewards). Over 70 people came for an audition but only 50 were selected. We rehearsed near the VR speaker’s office. Oleksandr Moroz occupied that position then. He came by quite often when he heard Ukrai-nian songs. Once he even brought his poems. Now our soloist Nadia Chumak sings ‘Mother’s Song’ to his words. When we created the choir, all the heads and the trade union of the VR supported us. We collaborated closely with Oleksandr Moroz, Volodymyr Lytvyn and Arsenii Yatseniuk. By the way, Yatseniuk was quite democratic about our performances and even allowed us to sing Christmas carols in the session hall. He allowed us to perform without any protocols or restrictions in the repertoire. Thanks to the trade unions and especially to Vasyl Stadnyk, the head of the united trade union committee of the VR, the choir bought the costumes and music instruments.
“The choir was organized in the end of 2002 – the beginning of 2003. The first rehearsal took place on Ukrainian Collegiality Day (January 22). We have already sung in the organ hall in Bila Tserkva in Kyiv oblast, and Smila in Cherkasy oblast. The bus was provided by the VR. We were also invited to sing in Zhytomyr region. The members of the Lithuanian Parliament visited us. They listened to us and decided to create a similar choir in order to visit each other with concerts. We are going to visit Lithuania and probably we will also visit the parliament of another country. We want to present Ukrainian songs and traditions. But we have to learn the songs of the hosting country.
“The work at the VR is somewhat special. Sometimes the employees work from 10 a.m. till 11 p.m. and it is really difficult to organize rehearsals because of their work schedule. Yet the choir wants to devote each free moment to singing. I got used to working with professionals but the VR choir has so much inspiration and desire to sing that I happily work with them.”
