Homin Choir in Ukraine

From the collection of

The Yorkshire Film Archive at York St John University save and celebrate screen heritage made in or about Yorkshire. They connect broad and diverse audiences to their cultural and socially significant collection that reflects the life, landscape, and identity of the people of the region since the 1890s. Together with their sister archive in the North East they form the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, a unique pan-regional resource with over 75,000 moving image artefacts. They unlock the collections for artists, academics, curators, programmers, researchers, and producers to reveal compelling stories from the vaults. www.yfanefa.com

Homin Choir in Ukraine

Yorkshire Film Archive
1995-06-06
Sound

Homin male voice choir brings a bit of Manchester to Ukraine.

The Homin choir was founded in Manchester in 1949. The first conductor was Evhen Pasika-Hordiy. He was succeeded by Jaroslav Babuniak in 1964, who was joined by accompanist William Eaton Jones. Homin became the representative choir for the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.

In addition to appearances at numerous concerts and events hosted by the UK Ukrainian diaspora, they toured nationally and internationally to great acclaim. They won second prize at the Llangollen International Festival in 1951 and first prize at the same festival in 1964, where the prize was awarded by Princess Margaret. Further awards included first and second prize at the Swiss Montreaux Festival. Homin's first tour of Ukraine took place in 1995, when they travelled to the Ternopil region to sing with two Ukrainian choirs, Homin (Lviv) and Boyan.

The song Rospryahaite Khloptsi Koni (Unharness the horses, lads) is one of the most recognisable Ukrainian folk songs. Folklorists have traced the song back to the 19th century and it features popular folk motifs including horses, cherry orchards, girls and kozaks.

This video documents one day of a trip to Ukraine made by the male voice choir Homin. The choir concert which features Homin (Manchester, UK), Homin (L'viv, Ukraine) and Boyan (Ukraine). The concert takes place in an unidentified concert hall. The songs performed by the choir are usually announced by one of the choristers.

Homin (UK) is the first to perform and sing Rospryahaite Khloptsi Koni (Unharness the horses, lads) before one of the singers gives a short history of the choir and the significance of this visit to Ukraine.

Culture, Customs, and Choirs

The UK's Ukrainian community celebrate art and tradition through song and dance.

During the Glasnost and Perestroika era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Ukrainian diaspora in the UK took advantage of a slightly more relaxed approach to international travel and invited cultural groups from Ukraine to visit the UK to perform. These visits sometimes corresponded with larger cultural festivals, such as the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales, or regional arts events such as the Bradford Festival. Prior to this, other diaspora arts groups had toured in Europe, North America and Canada, but it was very rare for groups from Ukraine to do the same. This period was a time of cultural revival and a hope that Ukrainian culture could be opened up for the world to share and enjoy. This collection is a selection of footage from different choir performances and Ukrainian cultural customs captured on video by the UVAS.

10 videos in this collection

Veryovka from Ukraine at the Alhambra, Bradford

Bradford
1991-09-15