A COLOURFUL new addition to this year’s festivities in West Cork is a Ukrainian choir.
Encouraged by Kevin Balanda, organiser of the West Cork Feelgood Festival, a small group of Ukrainians – most of whom are from West Cork – managed to set up a choir in just five weeks.
The driving force behind all this was the energy and enthusiasm of the choir’s directors Lyubov and Oleksandr Parkhomenko.
Most, but not all, of the members previously sang in amateur choirs in Ukraine. Lyubov herself worked as a teacher of solo singing and choral conducting. As a singer, she performed on stages throughout the Chernichiv region, which borders both Belarus and Russia.
Oleksandr conducts the male section of the choir, and most of the tenors come from the same city, where they were members of the church choir. They now continue to sing in Killarney where the Ukrainian Orthodox Church rents premises for worship.
Their first performance took place in Bantry, where they sang in a highly successful joint concert with the West Cork Choral Singers.
With Kevin’s encouragement, and the much-appreciated support of HSE, West Cork Development Partnership and Mental Health Services, they then began preparations for the Christmas concerts.
Already they have featured on national radio, on RTÉ Lyric FM’s Choirs for Christmas.
The full choir numbers 26 and is drawn from Killarney to the city, but most are from Skibbereen, Bantry, Schull, Church Cross, and Baltimore.
Despite all the difficulties that they face at this time, singing together is a powerful expression of their shared identity, and has also opened doors to the wider West Cork community.
There will be an ecumenical carol service led jointly by the West Cork Choral Singers and the Ukrainian Choir on Sunday December 15th at 6pm in Abbeystrewry Church in Skibbereen.
There will be a concert of Christmas carols by the Ukrainian Choir under Lyubov Parkhomenko on Saturday December 21st at 6pm in Holy Trinity Church in Schull.
Other ecumenical carol services include a performance on Sunday December 15th at 3pm in Holy Trinity Schull; and on Friday December 27th at 8pm there will be carols by candlelight in St Brendan’s in Crookhaven.
