Antonina Oleksandrivna Marenych (17 March 1949, Kuibyshev, USSR) is a famous Ukrainian singer, founder and musical director of the folk trio Marenych (1972-2004, Lutsk). Honoured Artist of Ukraine (1979) and People's Artist of Ukraine (2003). She is a holder of the Order of Princess Olha, 3rd class.
Biography
Antonina Marenych (maiden name Sukhorukova) was born on 17 March 1949 in Kuibyshev (now Samara). In 1968 she graduated from the Kuibyshev Music College, and in 1992 from the Rivne Institute of Culture. Antonina is the only member of the musical group with a complete higher musical education.
She began her career in the Moscow pop orchestra of Yuri Saulsky. In 1971, together with her husband Valery Marenych, she organised a singing duet, which was later joined by her sister Svetlana Sukhorukova. In 1971, the group took first place at the VIA competition in Kharkiv.
The Marenych Trio first appeared on television in 1978. The group became popular first in Ukraine and then throughout the Soviet Union. Since then, the trio's repertoire has included only Ukrainian-language songs such as "I'm sitting at the edge of a window", "My mother sent me", "Oh, in a grove by the Danube", "Halya carries water", "Oh, under a cherry tree...", "Silence around", "Why didn't you come?", etc. In 1979, the Melodiya company recorded their first disc, and Ukrtelefilm made a television version of it.
In 1986, Antonina Marenych took part in a meeting in the Kamianets-Podilskyi City House of Culture of Writers and Masters of Arts of Ukraine with the workers of the city and Kamianets-Podilskyi district, organised by Ukrainian Television.
Antonina Marenych was the artistic director of the Marenych Trio, which toured extensively in the Soviet Union and abroad (Poland, Canada, Great Britain, and Slovakia). Together with the collective, she participated in the All-Ukrainian festivals "Song Vernissage", "Kyiv Spring", "Crimean Dawns".
Awards and prizes
1979 - Honoured Artist of Ukraine
2003 - People's Artist of Ukraine
