The 12th National Modern Song and Popular Music Festival Chervona Ruta will be held in Kyiv November 17 through 20. Final competitions for the participants who have passed regional auditions will take place at the the Kyiv Academic Young Spectator Theater in Lypky and at President Hotel (the admission is free). And the winners’ gala concert will be held at the Kyiv National Academic Operetta Theater. By the way, a new nomination has been added to the contest this year: Ukrainian authentic folklore music. It will be represented in a few areas: traditional folk singing, rituals, and instrumental music.
“The event stands out due to the up-to-date musical genres that are represented: rock, acoustic, modern dance, pop, and other (experimental) music. There is always room for alternatives, experimenting, risk, conflict, and innovations there,” says Myroslav Melnyk, executive director of the festival.
Taras KOMPANYCHENKO, leader of the famous original band Khoreia Kozatska, says that it has always been like that, since the very beginning:
“When in Canada in 2009 I was asked to recall important social events that occurred in Ukraine in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I immediately mentioned Chervona Ruta. First of all, it defined Ukrainian music, which, by the way, turned out to be quite competitive. (The readers will probably remember that Braty Hadiukiny were invited to Alla Puhachova’s Rozhdestvenskie Vstrechi, Christmas Reunions.) Second, when the festival started working with musicians that belonged to different genres, it shaped our informational space. Practically from its very beginnings Chervona Ruta became a quality label. By the way, 90 percent of modern Ukrainian stars first shone at Chervona Ruta. Among them are Ruslana Lyzhychko, Ani Lorak, Oleksandr Ponomariov, Maria Burmaka, the Telniuk sisters, bands Braty Hadiukiny, Vopli Vidopliasova, Komu Vnyz, Tartak, Tanok Na Maidani Kongo, to mention just a few.
“The other thing is that during Leonid Kuchma’s rule Russian performers started pouring in. Their visits became more and more frequent. As a result, there is a lot of Ukrainian music on the Internet, very little on TV, and hardly any – on the billboards. It is sad but true: the so-called Ukrainian elite identifies itself with the cultural space of the non-existent Soviet Union. But nevertheless, demand for Ukrainian world does exist. And the evidence to this is, for example, the full house at Lina Kostenko’s art night at the Kharkiv Opera. So we should do what we should!”
