Ivan-Yaroslav Dmytrovych Hamkalo (born 1 May 1939, Horodyshche Korolivske) is a Ukrainian conductor, teacher, musicologist, musician and public figure. People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1982), Professor (1991), Academician (full member) of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, member of the European Academy of Musical Theatre.
He was born in the village of Korolivske in the Lviv region. In 1963 he graduated from the Lviv Conservatory in the class of Mykola Kolesa. In 1957-63 he worked at the Lviv Opera House, in 1963-65 he was the head of the musical department and conductor at the Drohobych Music and Drama Theatre, in 1965-67 he was a trainee conductor at the Kyiv Opera House (directed by K. Symeonov). In 1968-1970, he was the chief conductor of the Donetsk Philharmonic, and since 1970 - at the Kyiv Opera House. 1963-65 - lecturer at the Drohobych Pedagogical Institute and Music School, 1977-1981 and since 2000 at the Kyiv Conservatory, 1981-2000 - at the Institute of Culture. General Director and Artistic Director of the National Symphony Orchestra (1997-1999).
Hamkal's performing style is characterised by academicism, manifestations of the traditions of the Czech school, in particular attention to the finest details of the works performed, due to the influence of M. Kolessa, and at the same time the scale instilled in the conductor by K. Simeonov.
He pays much attention to working with singers and shaping their musical and vocal image. Under Gamkal's direction, M. Stefiuk, A. Kocherha, L. Zabilyasta, V. Hryshko, V. Lukyanets and others made their debuts on the stage of the Kyiv Opera House.
The opera repertoire of the Hamkal Opera House includes about 50 operas. Among them: "Vechornytsi" by P. Nishchynskyi, "La Traviata" by G. Verdi (Lviv Conservatory Opera Studio); "Chornomorytsi" by M. Starytskyi - M. Lysenko (Drohobych Music and Drama Theatre), "Kateryna" by M. Arkas, "Kupalo" by A. Vakhnyanyn, "Taras Bulba" by M. Lysenko, "Bohdan Khmelnytskyi" by K. Dankevych, "Mazepa" by P. Tchaikovsky, "The Tsar's Bride" by M. Rimsky-Korsakov. Rimsky-Korsakov, Prince Igor by A. Borodin, Khovanshchina, Boris Godunov by M. Mussorgsky, Katerina Izmailova by D. Shostakovich, Orpheus and Eurydice by H. Gluck, The Magic Flute by W. A. Mozart, Otello, Il Trovatore by G. Verdi, Huguenots by J. Meyerbeer, Carmen by J. Bizet, La Rustiche della Chasse by P. Mascagni, La Pagliacci by R. Leoncavallo (Kyiv Opera and Ballet Theatre). He has directed productions at this theatre, including G. Verdi's La Traviata (1966), M. Lysenko's Natalka Poltavka (1971, 1989, 1994), S. Hulak-Artemovsky's Cossack Beyond the Danube (1972, 1978, 1988), M. Verikovsky's The Hireling (1984), M. Skoryk's Moses, and P. Tchaikovsky's The Enchantress (2005, Samara Opera House). Under Hamkal's direction, the first performances of the productions were held: "The Tale of Lost Time" by Yulia Rozhavska (1971), "Tenderness" by V. Hubarenko (1972), "On the Mermaid's Easter" by M. Leontovych (1977), "Anna Yaroslavna - Queen of France" by A. Rudnytskyi (1995, first performance in Ukraine), "Kupalo" by A. Vakhnyanyn (1993, first performance at the Kyiv Opera House), "Boyarynya" by V. Kyreiko (2008, first performance).
He performed concert and theatrical versions at the National Philharmonic: "Natalka Poltavka" by M. Lysenko (1992), "Cossack beyond the Danube" by S. Hulak-Artemovsky (1993), "La Traviata" by G. Verdi (1994), "Eugene Onegin" by P. Tchaikovsky (1995), "The Falcon" by D. Bortnyansky (1996, first performance in Ukrainian), "The Yellow Stork" by O. Kostin (first performance in Ukrainian). Kostin (1997, first performance), Mozart and Salieri by Rimsky-Korsakov (1999), Haydamaky by Stetsenko and Glier (based on Taras Shevchenko's poem, 1999), and Poet by Kolodub (2004, dedicated to the 190th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko).
Ivan Hamkalo is an active concert performer. He performs a diverse repertoire, including unknown and little-known compositions in his programmes. He has toured as an opera and symphony conductor in cities of Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, Slovakia, Romania, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Canada. He recorded for the Ukrainian Radio Foundation the operas "The Drowned" and "Nocturne" by Mykola Lysenko, "On the Mermaid's Easter" by Mykola Leontovych, the cantata "Testament" by S. Liudkevych, excerpts from the operas "The Siege of Dubno" by P. Sokalsky, "Kateryna" by M. Arkas, "Natalka Poltavka" by Mykola Lysenko, "Vechornytsi" by P. Nishchynsky, "Psalms of David" by M. Kuzan, etc. Under Hamkalo's direction, he recorded music for the TV film "Atonement" (based on the opera "The Hireling" by M. Verikivsky, 1986, Ukrtelefilm) and the film "Cossack Beyond the Danube" (based on the opera of the same name by S. Hulak-Artemovsky, 2006, Dovzhenko National Film Studio).
Ivan Hamkalo also carries out extensive musical, social, scientific and organisational work. Since 1960, he has been a member of the Choral Society (now the All-Ukrainian Music Union), since 1962 - the Ukrainian Theatre Society (now the National Union of Theatre Workers of Ukraine), since 2007 - a member of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine, since 1992 - a founder and member of the Board (until 2005) of the European Academy of Musical Theatre (now in Vienna), since 1993 - a member of the Board, since 1997 President, since 2008 Honorary President of the Ukraine-Armenia Society, since 1996 Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the National Philharmonic, since 2000 Member of the Board of the Ukraine-World Society, 2001-2005 and since 2008 Member of the Shevchenko Prize Committee, since 2002 Bureau of the Music Department of the Academy of Arts of Ukraine, since 2003 Presidium of the Board of the Shevchenko Foundation - XXI Century. He is a scientific consultant of the URE, URES, encyclopaedic reference books "Artists of Ukraine", "Art of Ukraine", ESU, memorial almanac "Outstanding Figures of the Past Centuries" (Kyiv, 2001).
Ivan Hamkalo is an active promoter of the achievements of national and world musical culture in the press, on television and radio (Ukraine, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Russia). He has published a number of works on the history of musical performance in Ukraine and abroad (Russia, Germany).
