Eugene Forostyna (* 5 September 1883, Kolbushiv, Galicia - present-day Poland - † 25 August 1951, Brooklyn, New York, USA) was a Ukrainian educator, musician, folklorist, conductor and autodidact composer originally from Galicia.
Biography
In 1901, he graduated from a gymnasium in Stryi, and in 1907, he graduated from Lviv University. Later he taught at gymnasiums and music schools in Lviv and Przemyśl.
He was a choir conductor and a long-time director of the Mykola Lysenko Music Institute in Stryi, the Boyan Choir in Lviv (1910-1914) and Przemyśl (1921-1924).
In 1924-1940, he was a teacher and director of the music school in Stryi. In 1940-1941, he was the first director of the Ukrainian State Gymnasium in Yaroslav, where he also taught the history of Ukraine in grades 2 and 3.
From 16 June 1941 to the autumn of 1941, he was mobilised to the German army as a translator. On 1 September 1941, he returned to the District of Galicia.
Since 1944, he has been in exile. Since 1949, he has lived in the United States.
Creative works
musical film "Over the Dnipro" (by Oleksandr Oles);
music for the play The Tale of the Old Mill (by Spyridon Cherkasenko);
2 operettas: "The Girl with the Lily" and "Ganja Andyber";
piano trio;
string quartet;
choirs (including the choral works "Poplar", "Roars and Groans..." based on the words of Taras Shevchenko);
solo singing.
He collected Ukrainian folklore, in particular wedding songs.
