Hryhorii Semenovych Levchenko (August 12, 1933, Hrabarivka - September 24, 2022, Poltava) was a Ukrainian choral conductor, composer and teacher, Honored Artist of Ukraine, Professor of the V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University. Founder and director of the Ukrainian folk choir Kalyna.
He was born on August 12, 1933 in the village of Hrabarivtsi, Pyriatyn district, Poltava region.
He graduated from the choirmaster's department of the Mykola Lysenko Poltava Music College (1960) and the Leningrad Higher Trade Union School of Culture (1968).
Since 1979, he has worked at the Poltava Pedagogical Institute (now the University) as the artistic director of the Ukrainian folk choir "Kalyna", senior lecturer (1981-1987), associate professor (1987-1992), professor (since 1992), head of the Department of Music and Singing (1982-2004), and since 2004 - professor of the Department of Music at the V. H. Korolenko Poltava National Pedagogical University.
He died on September 24, 2022 in Poltava at the age of 89 after a long illness.
Awards.
Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
Petro Mohyla badge
Order of Merit III degree
Order of Merit II degree
as well as various honors and certificates.
Creative work
Author of over 80 scientific works, six textbooks on choral conducting, harmony and music theory:
"Choral Conducting", issue 1 (1995)
"Red Viburnum - Poltava Land" (2000)
"Oh in the meadow and even by the shore" (2006)
"Folk songs of Poltava region" (2006)
"My native land" (2008)
"Oh, in the meadow there is a red viburnum" (2011)
and two textbooks on solfege based on folk songs of Poltava region (2001 and 2006). The basis of the musical material of all publications is Ukrainian folk songs recorded by folklorists of Poltava region, including H. Levchenko, as well as folk songs in his arrangements and original compositions.
Among Levchenko's arrangements: "Ukrainian Fantasy," a wreath of Ukrainian folk songs, vocal and choreographic compositions "Wedding" and "At a Party," Ukrainian folk songs "A Cossack Went Across the Danube," "No One Is Worse Than You, "Oh, in the Meadow a Cuckoo Cawed," "Oh, Behind a Green Grove," "There is a High Mountain" based on the poem by Leonid Hlibov, a choral version of a fragment of Serhiy Shevchenko's piano concerto "Oh, in the Meadow and also by the Shore," and others.
Among the creative achievements are the publication of eight CDs from the repertoire of the Kalyna Choir: (1994, 1995 - France, 2000 - Switzerland, 2000, 2006 - Austria, 2000 - Germany, 2001 - Ukraine, 2003 - Belgium); the production of the Melody record label (Moscow, 1987), as well as numerous foreign tours of the choir directed by Hryhoriy Levchenko.
Hryhoriy Levchenko emphasized: "However, sometimes it happens like this: we select a new piece, learn it, polish it. And everything seems to be fine, but there is no satisfaction - the song does not sound, it is dead, wingless. So loving to sing, loving a song is not enough. It is absolutely necessary for every singer to understand the work they are performing. To comprehend its essence, its soul, to feel its power and charm, its depth and uniqueness. That's why I want the song to be performed not just skillfully, but sung with the heart. Only when the singers themselves feel it with their minds and hearts, when they convey it with excitement, love and trepidation, can we expect it to be understood and appreciated by the audience.
