Anna Starushkevych’s fascinating newsletter has produced a bulletin from Maestro Roman Dzundza of the Ivano-Frankivsk Philharmonic, ‘a mosaic of the cultural existence of a Ukrainian symphony orchestra’:
The obvious challenges start with the orchestra’s budget — this is nothing new, as such problems exist in nearly every orchestra: the tariff scale, the peripheral cultural perception of classical music in political life. But the real difficulties began after COVID-19 and deepened in 2022. At that time, the artistic director of the philharmonic, Ihor Dem’yanets, was undergoing training at a military base, and on 24 February he was sent to the front and later into the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Odesa. I then had to step in and carry out his duties, because we needed to deliver what I believe was our 83rd season (2022).
At that time very few people were protected, and the philharmonic, as a state institution, did not have “critical status,” which is required in order to reserve employees from mobilisation. That is why it happened that our two bassoonists were taken into the Armed Forces, one of whom was wounded. They remain in military service to this day. Later, our percussionist, Pavlo Dmytrash (born 13 April 1996), was also taken. On 9 January 2024 he went missing in action. He had been commander of the 2nd unit of Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Reconnaissance, in the company for radiological, chemical, and biological protection of military unit A0224. On 19 September 2024 we held a memorial for him in the village of Pastushe…
At the end of the season, after returning from a tour, our first horn player, Ihor Svatiyk, was admitted to hospital. He underwent joint surgery. Four days before his 40th birthday, on 5 October 2024, he died from post-surgical complications… and we buried our friend, our symphonic brother, whom I had personally known since the 2000s, from music college days…
From the philharmonic, our saxophonists Andriy Paliychuk and Ruslan Krul were also mobilised, as well as practically the entire “Budmo” ensemble.
Part of the symphony orchestra is currently on an international tour led by the chief conductor. And so we have a kind of symphonic dichotomy: one part of the orchestra abroad, while the other remains here, working daily on our new programmes under my direction.
Every programme for us is a multiple challenge….
Continues here.
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