Nina Mytrofanivna Matviienko (; 10 October 1947 – 8 October 2023) was a Ukrainian singer,

People's Artist of Ukraine People's Artist of Ukraine () is an honorary title awarded by the government of Ukraine. It is the highest title awarded to outstanding performing artists whose merits are exceptional in the sphere of the development of the performing arts, inc ...

Life and career

Matviienko was born on 10 October 1947 in village of Nedilyshche, Yemilchyne Raion,

Zhytomyr Oblast Zhytomyr Oblast (), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna (), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in northwestern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately H ...

at the time in the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

in the

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 ...

(today Ukraine). She was the fifth of eleven siblings, her mother was Antonina Ilkivna and father, Mytrofan Ustynovych. She began at a local residential school, then worked as a copyist and then a crane-operator's assistant. She completed her studies in Ukrainian philology at the

Kyiv University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

in 1975. She had previously entered the vocal studio of the Ukrainian State Folk Choir named after

Hryhory Veriovka Hryhoriy Huriyovych Veryovka (1 October 1964) was a Soviet and Ukrainian composer and choir director. He is best known for founding the renowned Veryovka Choir in 1943, and leading it for many years, gaining international recognition and winn ...

in 1968, before becoming a soloist. She married Petro Honchar and the couple had three children. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1988 Matviienko received the

Shevchenko National Prize Shevchenko National Prize (; also ''Shevchenko Award'') is the highest state prize of Ukraine for works of culture and arts awarded since 1961. It is named after the inspirer of Ukrainian national revival Taras Shevchenko. It is one of the five ...

, a Ukrainian State prize named after

Taras Shevchenko Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko (; ; 9 March 1814 – 10 March 1861) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist, and ethnographer. He was a fellow of the Imperial Academy of Arts and a member of the Brotherhood o ...

, and also acted in

Yuri Ilyenko Yuri Herasymovych Ilyenko (, 18 July 1936 – 15 June 2010) was a Ukrainian film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and politician. He directed twelve films between 1965 and 2002. His 1970 film '' The White Bird Marked with Black'' was e ...

's Ukraine war drama film ''Solomennye Kolokola.'' Matviienko's repertoire includes numerous Ukrainian folk songs. Nina is the first performer of works by the composers

Yevhen Stankovych Yevhen Fedorovych Stankovych (; born September 19, 1942) is a contemporary Ukrainian composer of stage, orchestral, chamber, and choral works. Biography Stankovych was born in Szolyva (today the Ukrainian city of Svaliava), in Hungary. In 196 ...

Myroslav Skoryk Myroslav Mykhailovych Skoryk (; 13 July 1938 – 1 June 2020) was a List of Ukrainian composers, Ukrainian composer and teacher. His music is contemporary in style and contains stylistic traits from Ukrainian folk music traditions. Skoryk wa ...

, Iryna Kyrylina,

Hanna Havrylets Hanna Oleksiivna Havrylets (11 April 195827 February 2022, ) was a Ukrainian composer. Biography She was born in , Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR and received her early music education in her native village from Vasyl Kufliuk. She grad ...

and many others. She has performed on television in numerous films and on radio. From 1966 to 1991, Matviienko was a soloist of the Ukrainian State Folk Choir. From 1968 a member of the folk trio "Zoloti kliuchi". In recent times she has been performing with the

Kyiv Camerata The Kyiv Camerata (in ) is a musical group in Kyiv, fully titled National Ensemble of soloists ''Kyivska Camerata''. It is a leading Ukrainian performer of chamber music of different styles. The ensemble's repertoire is remarkably diverse, rangin ...

orchestra, and the Kostyantyn Chechenya

Early Music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

Ensemble. Matviienko performed in Mexico, Canada, the United States,

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, Finland,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, France, Latin America. She has numerous recordings of Ukrainian folk songs. Her life and philosophy of female equality was inspiration for singer, Yuliana Prado. In 2009, she published a book (of about 250 folk songs), about her life and career, and her love of the 'soul music' of her native land. In reviewing her work, the academic Mykola Zhulynsky from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, and the Taras Shevchenko Institute of Literature described Matviienko as someone who 'lives by songs and relishes in the song-making process, in her affinity with the song, opening for it her own soul and for the soul of the Ukrainian people after the shadows of servitude.' During the 2022

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Matviienko's performance of

’s opera-ballet ''When'' ''the'' ''Fern'' ''Blooms,'' which had originally premiered in 2017 after a ban during the Soviet era, was

live-streamed Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming media, streaming of video or Digital audio, audio in real-time communication, real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature ...

by the Lviv National Opera was re-released online.

Death

Nina Matviienko died on 8 October 2023, aged 75.

Awards

* 1988 Taras Shevchenko Prize of Ukraine * 1996 International M. A. Kasyan Prize Fund – Order of Mykola Chudotvorets * 1997 Ukraine

Order of Princess Olga The Order of Princess Olga () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian civil decoration, featuring Olga of Kiev and bestowed to women for "personal merits in state, production, scientific, educational, cultural, charity and other spheres of social activities, fo ...

, third class * 2006

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

* 2017 Person of the Year

Discography

* Nina Matviienko: ''Kolyskova zori.''
Lullaby to a evening-glow)
* Nina Matviienko: ''Molytva''

* Nina Matviienko: ''Osin', tkak myla. Golden Collection''. (Autumn, So Nic

* Ancient Music Ensemble of Kostjantin Chechenja, Nina Matviienko. Vsyakomu Horodu Nrav i Prava.

and Nina Matviienko: recording for
World Folk Vision 2020

and Nina Matviienko book '''Oi, vyoriu nyvku shyrokuiu (I’ll Plow a Broad Furrow)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matviienko, Nina 1947 births 2023 deaths People from Zhytomyr Oblast 21st-century Ukrainian women singers Ukrainian folk singers Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga, 2nd class Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd class Recipients of the Shevchenko National Prize Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni 20th-century Ukrainian women singers Ukrainian women folk singers Recipients of the title of People's Artists of Ukraine