Metro Radomsky ( Ukrainian: Метро Радомський) (born in 1910 in

Lamont County Lamont County is a municipal district in central Alberta, Canada, located in Census Division No. 10, northeast of Edmonton. The county contains 27 Townships. Its municipal office is located in the Town of Lamont. History In March 1944, t ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, died in 1995) was a well-known

Ukrainian Canadian Ukrainian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Ukrainian descent or Ukrainian-born people who immigrated to Canada. In the late 19th century, the first Ukrainian immigrants arrived in the east coast of Canada. They were primarily farmers and l ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

player of the twentieth century. His band was one of the earliest bands to record Ukrainian music in the

Canadian Prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

in the 1930s; his orchestra continued playing until 1989.

Biography

Early life

Radomsky was born in 1910 as one of four children in Kahwin,

, a farming area near

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. The 1916

Canadian Census Statistics Canada conducts a national census of population and census of agriculture every five years and releases the data with a two-year lag. The Census of Population provides demographic and statistical data that is used to plan public servi ...

lists his father Porpri Radomsky, born around 1875 and his mother Maysta Radomsky, born around 1882, both from

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

and having arrived in Canada in 1902. Because he seemed interested in music from a young age, his father bought him a second-hand violin at age nine. He played his first wedding at age twelve. He initially learned by ear, and for a time he took lessons from Walter Holowach, a classical violinist in

who had studied in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. It was suggested that Metro should follow his teacher's path and also study in Vienna, but he declined. When Radomsky was 17, his father died, and he was forced to take over the family farm. He married his wife Jean Tkachuk in 1934 and they had three children.

Musical career

Radomsky first founded his band, the Radomsky Orchestra in 1928. The original format of the band was the traditional Ukrainian folk music trio or ''troista muzyka'' --

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...

(''tsymbaly'') and drum. That format, with dulcimer player Metro Lastiwka, can be heard on some of the

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The g ...

records they recorded in the early 1950s for

Stinson Records Stinson Records was an American record label formed by Herbert Harris and Irving Prosky in 1939, initially to market, in the US, recordings made in the Soviet Union. Between the 1940s and 1960s, it mainly issued recordings of American folk and b ...

. The band quickly became popular, especially for Ukrainian weddings and other social functions. According to former members of his orchestra from the 1930s, the band would often be paid five

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

for a three-day wedding. They were so popular that some families scheduled their weddings on weekdays, or rescheduled already-planned weddings, to be able to book them. He continued being a farmer until around 1945, when he became an elevator agent for the Pioneer company in

Wostok Wostok () is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Lamont County. It is located on Range Road 173, approximately south of Highway 45 and north of Highway 29. Lamont is approximately southwest of Wostok. History Wostok was founded in 189 ...

. His band continued to be in demand in the postwar era. The lineup expanded to include saxophone, accordions, trumpets, and other instruments, in keeping with shifting trends in Ukrainian-Canadian music. His son recalled that in 1952 for a time they played for 22 nights in a row. He mostly played in Edmonton and Northern Alberta, although occasionally traveled to play concerts in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 106,550 in the 2023 Alberta municipal censuses, 2023 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, or

Prince George, British Columbia Prince George is a city in British Columbia, Canada, situated at the confluence of the Fraser River, Fraser and Nechako River, Nechako rivers. The city itself has a population of 76,708; the metro census agglomeration has a population of 89,490 ...

. The band remained popular in the 1960s and 1970s at the height of the popularity of Ukrainian Canadian fiddle music, when dozens of records were being put out by labels such as Winnipeg's V-Records. Radomsky recorded a number of LPs for labels such as Ukadian, DSLP, Heritage, and Maple Haze. In 1989, Radomsky was diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

, in addition to a previous diagnosis of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

, so he decided to finally retire from music. In 1992 he was awarded an Excellence in Artistry Award from the Alberta Council for Ukrainian Arts. Radomsky died in 1995.

Selected discography

*Kozak/Ukrainiska Polka (

, UK 200) *Bublichky/Oy Ty Divchyno (

, UK 201) *Chom, Chom, Chom/Vypriahaite Koni (

, UK 222) *Tam Na Hori/Paraska. (

, UK 221) *Wedding Polka/Brodska Polka. (

, UK 202) *Radomski Ensemble (Ukadian Records) *Metro Radomski and his Ensemble (DS-LP 9) *Ukrainian Night At The Norwood Legion Featuring Radomsky's Orchestra "Live" (Heritage Records, c.1977) *Ukrainian Gold with Metro Radomsky (LEI Stereo, LS 10430, 1978)

References

External links

Youtube playlist of Metro Radomsky recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radomsky, Metro Ukrainian violinists 20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Ukrainian-Canadian culture in Alberta 1910 births 1995 deaths Canadian male violinists and fiddlers Canadian folk fiddlers