Andriy Fedorovych Omelchenko (2 July 19269 May 1981) was a Ukrainian virtuoso

bandura A bandura ( ) is a Ukrainians, Ukrainian plucked string instrument, plucked-string folk-instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often called a kobza. Early instruments () had 5 to 12 strings and ...

soloist and composer. He taught bandura at the Ukrainian Institute of Culture and performed outside the Soviet Union.

Biography

Omelchenko was born in Pavlysh,

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and initially began to play

from tutelage by Makar Osadchyj in

Dniprodzerzhynsk Kamianske (, ; ), previously known as Dniprodzerzhynsk from 1936 to 2016, is an industrial city in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine, and a port on the Dnieper River. It serves as the administrative center of Kamianske Raion and Kamianske urban ...

and joined the bandura capella there. In 1947 he played bandura in a military ensemble. In his biography he stated that he took some of his first bandura lessons from

Hryhory Kytasty Hryhoriy Trokhymovych Kytasty () (January 17, 1907 – April 6, 1984) was a Ukraine, Ukrainian émigré composer and conducting, conductor. In 2008, he was honored with the Hero of Ukraine state decoration. Biography Early years Hryhory Kyt ...

. In 1956 he completed both the vocal and orchestral faculties of the

Kiev Conservatory The Ukrainian National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music (), formerly Kyiv Conservatory, is a national music tertiary academy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Its courses include postgraduate education. History The Kyiv Conservatory was founded on 3 November 1913 at ...

. He continued to study bandura under

Volodymyr Kabachok Volodymyr Andryievych Kabachok (, July 15, 1892June 15, 1957) was a well-known bandura player and educator in Ukraine. Biography Born in the village of , in the Poltava region, Kabachok became a singer in the Archbishop's choir in Poltava until ...

and Andriy Bobyr. From 1952 he worked as a soloist of the Bandura Ensemble of Ukrainian Radio. From 1954 he taught bandura at the special music high school in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, and from 1961 at the Kiev Music College. As a soloist he performed in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was a laureate of the international competition of performers on folk instruments which took place in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1957. He published a series of collections of music for the bandura and composed a number of individual works. In 1967 he edited the "Handbook for the bandura" by . In 1963 he completed post graduate studies at the

and in 1968 he received the title of Candidate of Arts for his thesis on the development of the bandura. He continued to work on a doctoral dissertation on

Ukrainian folk instruments Ukrainian may refer or relate to: * Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe * Ukrainians, an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine * Demographics of Ukraine * Ukrainian culture, composed of the material and spiritual values of the Ukrainian peopl ...

while teaching bandura at the Institute of Culture. He died of liver cancer on May 9, 1981 in Kiev, Soviet Union.

Publications

*1965 - Bandura i mystetstvo bandurystiv za radians'koho chasu - "NTE" #4 *1967 - Mystetsvo bandurystiv na pidneinni - NTE #6 (pp. 33–35) *1967 - Seminar kerivnykiv kapel ta ansambliv bandurystiv - NTE - *1968 - Vstup do obr. "Oj poplyvy , vutko" - M. Opryshky. - MTE - #6 (p. 87-8) *1968 - Razvitie kobzarskgo iskusstva na Ukraine. Avtoreferat K. - (pp. 25) *1974 - Za tradytsieiu narodnykh spivtsiv - Muzyka - #2, (pp. 24–25) *1975 - Banduryst Fedir Zharko - in NTE, #3 *1978 - Kobzars'ka dialnist' I. I. Kuchenura-Kucherenko - NTE- #4 (p. 42-49) *1979 - Poklykannia - Muzyka, - #2 (p. 24) *1980 - Bandurist - in NTE - #4 *1980 - (with ) - Narodni spivtsi-muzykanty na Ukraini - Kiev. *1989 - (with S. Bashtan) - Handbook for the bandura - Kiev.

Students

Kost Novytsky,

Volodymyr Kushpet Volodymyr Hryhorovych Kushpet (born April 6, 1948) is an influential Ukrainian baritone singer, and player on torban, kobza, bandura and lira, he is noted for reconstruction of traditional playing techniques on these instruments. He is the autho ...

Sources

* - Kobzari Bandurysty - Lviv, 1999 * Necrolog published in NTE 1981 #4

Notes

Bandurists Kobzarstvo 1926 births 1981 deaths 20th-century Ukrainian composers {{Ukraine-musician-stub