Taras Hubytskyi (17 April 1908, Drohobych - 14 August 1974, Detroit) was a member of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada, a renowned violinist, conductor, musicologist, composer, teacher, and public figure.
Taras Hubytskyi was born on 17 April 1908 in Drohobych. When the child was 2 years old, the family emigrated to Canada and settled in Winnipeg. Here Taras began his musical education: he learned to play the violin from Professor Waterhawes. Other members of the Hubytskyi family also had musical abilities: his sister Lucia graduated from the Royal Academy in London (where she worked as a teacher of music theory and harmony); his brother Bohdan was a successful violinist; his sister Honora was a good pianist, accompanied M. Holynskyi and competed with Lyubka Kolessa. His wife Suzanna was also proficient on the piano.
T. Hubytskyi gave his first solo concert in autumn 1923. The young man's talent was recognised during 1921-1924. He won various music festivals and competitions six times. Taras received his professional musical education at the Royal Academy of Music in London (graduated in 1927; Doctor of Musicology degree). After that, the musician returned to Winnipeg and began an active multifaceted career. "About the musical activity of our musician in Canada," wrote musicologist Vasyl Vytvytskyi, "we can say that it was lively, full to the brim and multifaceted. Travelling with solo performances in Western Canada, working with choirs, including the church choir and the choir of the Prosvita Society, performing on the radio, organising musical and theatrical performances, including P. Nishchynsky's "Vechornytsi" - this is an incomplete list of his activities."
In 1927, T. Hubytskyi organised a tour of the cities and towns of Western Canada (lasting six months). He was also invited to the position of concertmaster of the Coral and Orchestral Association Orchestra in Winnipeg. At the same time, he collaborates with the church choir and the choir and orchestra at the Prosvita Institute. Under the direction of the artist, these groups were active participants in concert life and took part in a concert on 4 November 1933 at the Ukrainian National House on the occasion of the Unification of Ukraine; in 1935-1936, they accompanied the performance of P. Nishchynskyi's Vechornytsi, I. Tobilevych's Slave, and Mykola Lysenko's opera Dereza the Goat. An interesting fact is the creative tandem of the composer and his wife, an artist, who painted the scenery for these performances.
In 1932, at the invitation of M. Shustakevych, he led the string ensemble at the Detroit Ukrainian radio station WJLB. In 1937, he moved to Detroit for permanent residence. It was here that his talent manifested itself in full force: he directed the church choir at St. John the Baptist Church. John the Baptist Church, was first violinist of the Siegle Chamber Quartet, joined the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, played viola in the Detroit Music Guild string quartet, held a professorship at the Detroit Conservatory of Music, performed solo programmes, taught at a private music school, headed the music department of Detroit Radio, and acted as a music reviewer. He also demonstrated remarkable organisational skills: he initiated the creation of the Detroit String Orchestra. This orchestra is an extraordinary phenomenon in the musical life of the city, because all of its concerts and Gubytsky's conducting activities received only positive reviews in the press. For example, the newspaper Svoboda of 23 May 1947 reported about a concert that was to take place on 30 May 1947 in the hall of the Ukrainian National House: "The Ukrainian Symphony Orchestra of 27 musicians, composed of members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and several of the best Ukrainian musicians, will perform outstanding Ukrainian symphonic works under the baton of Ukrainian conductor Taras Hubytskyi: "P. Pechenega-Uhlytsky's Suite, Leopold Godowsky's Selection of Ukrainian Folk Melodies, Easter Bells from Ukraine by S. Votychenko, a selection from the opera "Zaporozhets Beyond the Danube" and others." At that time, Taras Hubytskyi's orchestra consisted of more than 60 young talented musicians, and its repertoire included works by famous classical composers such as Bach, Handel, Mozart, Vivaldi, Bortniansky, Grieg, Brahms, Chopin, Strauss, Liszt, and works by Ukrainian composers.
Chamber music was another area of interest for T. Hubytskyi. Violinists, cellists, and violists gathered around him and together they created chamber trios and quartets. They could be heard on the stage of the Detroit Literary and Art Club. The high performing skills of such improvised ensembles are evidenced by the repertoire, which included the Bortnyansky Quintet alongside the best examples of foreign classical music.
Despite being very busy, he finds time to maintain ties with musical life in the diaspora and in Ukraine. It is important that he not only establishes contacts with musicians, but also organises active assistance: when he learned about the financial difficulties of the Ukrainian Music magazine in Lviv (whose editorial staff worked without salary), he immediately secured 80 subscribers for it.
Another page of the artist's activity was the organisation of centres of Ukrainian musical culture in Detroit: he founded a Ukrainian symphony orchestra and a private music school (1942), which hundreds of young musicians went through. His only regret was that there were very few Ukrainians in his music school. He also promoted Ukrainian music: he searched for sheet music or recordings of Ukrainian composers and performed them, which were used to compose programmes for solo concerts. The bright creative path of the multifaceted artist ended unexpectedly on 14 August 1974.
