Concert "Treasury of the Ukrainian Romance: From Ancient to Modern"

We invite you to attend the concert "Treasury of the Ukrainian Romance: From Ancient to Modern"!

Ukrainians possess many treasures—both man-made and intangible—representing the spiritual heritage of many generations of our people. Throughout history, even in turbulent and dark times, our ancestors shaped history through oral folk traditions, which were adopted and developed by professional creators of musical culture. Although the romance genre is lyrical and dramatic in nature, conveying a wide spectrum of personal experiences, its central figure is, first and foremost, a person of Cossack lineage—often a warrior-defender of the people's freedom during the many wars fought on Ukrainian soil.

"Treasury of the Ukrainian Romance: From Ancient to Modern" is a concert in which teachers and students of the G. I. Maiboroda Studio of the National Choir of Ukraine recreate this unique musical legacy in chronological order. Ancient instruments, the kobza and bandura, will be played, as the romance is a genre traditionally performed solo with musical accompaniment. Many works have reached us through the oral song culture of the Ukrainian people. The flourishing of the romance is linked to the work of 19th-century Romantic poets, notably Viktor Zabila and Mykhailo Petrenko. Taras Shevchenko’s work had a profound impact on Ukraine’s entire musical culture—the pearl-like romances set to his poetry remain unsurpassed in this genre to this day. The 20th century enriched the history of the Ukrainian romance with new masterpieces: Sich Riflemen songs, UPA lyrics, the works of many Ukrainian poets, and a whole galaxy of masters from Ukraine's modern compositional school—A. Kos-Anatolsky, V. Barvinsky, V. Ivasiuk, O. Bilash, and P. Maiboroda. Today, we are bringing back the poetry of the "Executed Renaissance" through the author's romance and turning to the poetic contributions of our contemporaries.

The idea of presenting this treasury of Ukrainian romance within the "Treasury" (Skarbnytsia) of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine is deeply symbolic, as the museum's atmosphere itself is filled with the age-old values of our people.

Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026. Start time: 3:00 PM. Price: 200 UAH (admission fee); 100 UAH for students, schoolchildren, and seniors. Address: The Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, 21 Ivana Mazepy St., Building 12 (on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve). For inquiries, please call: (044) 280-13-96 or (093) 619-70-29 (Viber, Telegram).