Ukrainian folk band ‘Kyiv Ethno Trio’ toured in Switzerland as part of the Stiftung am See’s creative residency
The residency, organised by the Stiftung am See, has been running for over 30 years in the city of Horw, and its creators invited the Kyiv Ethno Trio to participate. The residency, in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute, helped the musicians to establish mutual cultural ties and present contemporary Ukrainian music abroad.
The Kyiv Ethno Trio performs on the national and international stage, using modern arrangements of authentic musical materials. The trio consists of:
Maksym Berezhniuk, a musical virtuoso known for his masterful playing of traditional wind instruments and deep research into Ukrainian folklore. He is a member of such well-known bands as The Doox and Kozatska Chorea, a soloist of the Dnipro Academic Ensemble of Ukrainian Music, and a lecturer at the National University of Culture and Arts. He is a laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize.
Orest Krysa, a multi-instrumentalist and composer involved in various musical groups and projects: Musical Battalion, Solar Machine, and Unconquered ProRock Vasyl Symonenko. He is an artist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, a scholar and a PhD in art history.
Volodymyr Ponomarev, is a musician, producer and composer. He plays stringed instruments. He is a co-founder and leader of the Kyiv Ethno Trio, the Veseli Vuyky folk band, Folk Evolution, and the Perola barroca baroque ensemble. He is a member of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine.
As part of the residency, the musicians performed concerts in Basel at the Church of St. Elizabeth, in Lucerne, at the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Lucerne. In Horw, they held a concert and panel discussion “Sustainable representation of Ukrainian artists in the Swiss cultural environment and the possibility of their involvement in European cultural processes” with representatives of ethno-jazz festivals and music industry figures at the Haus am see cultural centre and gave a concert at the Kulturmühle cultural centre and the Reformed Church.