The historic village of Sokyryntsi in Sribne district of Chernihiv region will see prominent bandura players from Khmelnytsky, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Lviv and other Ukrainian regions come there on this date. The Maiboroda National Honored Bandura Chapel of Ukraine, People’s Artist of Ukraine, prominent kobza player Vasyl Nechepa, the Veresai Bandura Chapel of Chernihiv Oblast Philharmonic Festival and Concert Center, and the Sokolyky Model Bandura Band are expected to participate in the event, too. After a hiatus lasting from 2007-12, the 6th Veresai Fest will mark the festival’s return and be dedicated to Ostap Veresai’s 210th birth anniversary, to coincide with the Chernihiv Travel Industry 2013 International Tourism Forum.
“Ostap Veresai was born in the village of Kaliuzhyntsi [Pryluky county of Poltava province at the time, now in Sribne district of Chernihiv region. – Author.] in 1803, and buried here, in Sokyryntsi, after his death in 1890. As you know, he became blind as a small child, but that did not stop him from mastering the art of playing the bandura perfectly. Oleksandr Rusov gave us an excellent treatment of his life, while Mykola Lysenko covered his artistic career equally well,” the head of Veresai History and Ethnography Museum in Sokyryntsi Valentyna Savchenko says. “Veresai was a good kobza player. Kyiv and St. Petersburg elite admired him, including such figures as Mykola Lysenko, Panteleimon Kulish, Pavlo Chubynsky, Taras Shevchenko. Lysenko would come to Sokyryntsi just to record Veresai’s ballads and songs.”
According to Savchenko, the first large-scale Veresai commemoration event was held in Ukraine in 1940 at the initiative of Pavlo Tychyna, when Kyiv’s Institute of Art Studies held a field session in Sokyryntsi. Later on, Maksym Rylsky initiated another celebration on the occasion of the musician’s 150th anniversary in 1953, while the Veresai Fest was launched in 1988.
“We have never held the festival annually, as the village cannot afford it both organizationally and financially. However, it is even more valuable for the artistic community due to its infrequency. Without exaggeration, bandura and lyre players from the most remote regions of the country are waiting for it. They often call and ask us when they will be able to come and perform at Veresai’s home venue. The locals, on the other hand, have long seen the event as not only a good tradition, but a real spiritual feast, too.”
