I am in New York. Getting ready to the US premier of my newest project “The Night is just beginning”. In October 2016, I went to the Donetsk region, not far away from Mariupol city, into the small ethnographical expedition. Traveling through the villages just in frontline of a war (always need to check, if the village you want to go, is not occupied). Meeting women and men, recording their songs, stories, memories. Iryna Kriuczenko, the founder of an Ensemble­ “Zahraiyarochka” from Volnovacha town, is one of the most incredible person I ever met...Many years ago, she started to learn songs from her mother, she understood, that this music can not disappear, she teaches her daughters, she traveled around the region and gathered, supported and promoted this music. In the time, no body was interested...Thanks to her, today we have recordings of many women, who are not with us anymore, or who are so old, that they can not remember anymore, can not sing... she keeps this ancient, very rich in this region tradition alive and vivid.
This time, it was impossible to invite her to join us in New York.(visa, visa visa...f....) But, her voice, the voice of her mother, the voices from everyone we met, this “voice of Donbass” will be possible to hear in New York on Dec 16 and 17.
I will be singing their songs as well as compositions based on poems by Serhiy Zhadan and Lyuba Yakimchuk.
So thankful to be able to work on this with amazing Virlana Tkacz, Andre Erlen, Julian Kytasty and Waldemart Klyuzko, EvgeniyMaloletka and Yara Arts