Ihor Sonevytsky (

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

: Ігор Михайлович Соневицький) (1926–2006) was a

-born

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, conductor,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and musicologist.

Life

Born on 2 January 1926 in Hadynkivtsi, Galicia (now in Western Ukraine), Ihor Sonevytsky was the son of Dr. Michael Sonevytsky (Ukrainian: Михайло Соневицький), a noted Ukrainian classical philologist, and Olha Sonevytsky, a journalist. He studied at the Vienna Musical Academy and completed his musical studies with a diploma in composition, conducting and piano performance from the Staatliche Hochschule fur Musik, Munich (1950) and the

Ukrainian Free University The Ukrainian Free University ( ua, Український Вільний Університет, german: Ukrainische Freie Universität, la, Universitas Libera Ukrainensis) is a private graduate university located in Munich, Germany. History ...

, Munich (1961). His family emigrated to the US short after. There he became a cofounder of the Ukrainian Music Institute of America, and served as its director from 1959 to 1961. In 1983 he established the Grazhda Music and Art Center of

Greene County, New York Greene County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,931. Its county seat is Catskill. The county's name is in honor of the American Revolutionary War general Nathanael Greene. History ...

. Sonevytsky conducted five different Ukrainian choirs, organized and directed a Ukrainian string orchestra and opera ensemble, taught private students, and lectured at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Rome. He wrote over 500 music-related articles for various newspapers and periodicals. He wrote several music books, including ''The Dictionary of Ukrainian Composers'', which lists 522 Ukrainian composers from around the world. He is the author of the opera "Star", the ballet "Cinderella", some chamber music, a series of piano works and a catalogue of choral and vocal music. Sonevytsky became the first Ukrainian émigré composer to be published in his homeland, when the Ukrainian State Publishing House "Muzychna Ukraina" published a collection of his solo songs in 1993.

References

External links

The music of Ihor Sonevytsky

«Під Твою милість прибігаєм» (''Sub tuum praesidium'') by Ihor Sonevytsky, vocal solo and electronic organ, performed by Halyna Wilkha (soprano)

«Під Твою милість прибігаєм» (''Sub tuum praesidium'') by Ihor Sonevytsky, choir version (arranged by Rostyslav Demchyshyn)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sonevytsky, Ihor Ukrainian composers Ukrainian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Ukrainian pianists 20th-century pianists 20th-century conductors (music) 1926 births 2006 deaths 20th-century male musicians