Nina Mytrofanivna Matvienko (born 10 October 1947, Nedilyshche, Emilchyn district, Zhytomyr region, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian singer and actress. People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1985), laureate of the Shevchenko State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR (1988), Hero of Ukraine. Member of the Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine (1989). Mother of singer Antonina Matvienko.
Biography.
She was the fifth child in the peasant family of Mytrofan Ustymovych and Antonina Ilkivna Matviienko, where there were 11 children. In addition to her mother, she was raised by her siblings Tolia, Liusia, Mariia, and Mykola.
From the age of 4, she took care of her younger siblings (Vasyl, Valentyna, Ivan, Mykhailo, Polina, and Volodymyr), herded cattle, and even worked for her uncle Arkhyp in the neighbouring village of Honoryno one summer. "I was born into such a family," the singer admitted, "that I never saw anything human in my childhood. Only holidays, when my father was not drunk and she and my mother sang...".
Her mother, Antonina Ilkivna, had a singing talent, she could sing in three or even four voices. In the late 1970s, Nina Matvienko recorded a disc of her mother's songs.
The family lived in poverty. To make their lives easier, her parents decided to send Nina to a boarding school. The 11-year-old girl had a good personality and got on well with people. Her mother believed that it would be easier for her than for other children to endure separation from her family. From 1958, Nina studied at a boarding school in the village of Potiivka, Radomyshl district. It was not an easy ordeal - one of the teachers punished her for the slightest offence, kept her on her knees in the corner for hours, and made her do the hardest work.
The Potiyivka boarding school was an eight-year school, so Nina Matvienko was transferred to Korosten in the 9th grade. At the Korosten boarding school, she was involved in athletics and acrobatics, and sang Lyudmyla Zykina's songs. In the 9th grade, she fell in love with her teacher Ivan, but later left him because of his unworthy behaviour.
Creativity.
One of her teachers, Liudmyla Ivanivna, advised Nina to take up singing professionally and try out for the Veriovka Ukrainian Folk Choir. The girl did attend the choir's vocal studio, but after graduating from boarding school, she had to find a job at the Korosten plant Khimmash. At first, she worked as a timekeeper, then as a crane operator's apprentice, and later she was transferred to a copyist. When she heard that Zhytomyr was recruiting girls to join a pop vocal ensemble, she came to the regional centre for auditions. The Zhytomyr Philharmonic was indeed forming a female vocal group. However, Nina Matvienko's authentic style of singing did not fit in with the collective pop singing, and she was rejected (another future Ukrainian singer, Raisa Kirichenko, successfully passed the audition).
However, her desire to sing was so strong that in 1966 Matvienko enrolled in the studio of the Hryhorii Veriovka Choir. In 1968, after graduating from the choir's vocal studio, she became its soloist.
The singer has been active in concert and touring since 1967. Nina Matvienko has toured to great acclaim in Mexico, Canada, the USA, the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Korea, France, and Latin America. Her creative repertoire includes discs with recordings of Ukrainian folk songs, audio cassettes, and CDs with recordings of various genres of music.
In 1966-1991, she was a soloist at the vocal studio of the Hryhoriy Veryovka State Honoured Ukrainian Folk Academic Choir. In addition, since 1968, she has been collaborating with the vocal trio "Golden Keys".
A new period in her creative life is associated with her work in the National Ensemble of Soloists "Kyiv Camerata", where she has been a soloist since 1991. The surprisingly expressive nature of the singer's folk singing is harmoniously combined with the academic style of the Camerata, thereby expanding the artistic repertoire of the ensemble's concert practice.
In 1971, she married a young artist Petro Honchar, the son of Ukrainian sculptor, painter and collector of antiquities and Ukrainian applied art Ivan Honchar. Petro attended Matvienko's concert in Kyiv (1968) and said that she would be his wife. Later, they were introduced by Les Kharchenko of the Yavir quartet.
In 1972, she gave birth to a son, Ivan, followed by Andriy, and then Antonina. The sons followed in their father's footsteps and became artists. In 2005, at the age of Christ, Ivan unexpectedly decided to become a monk and took his vows. Antonina continues her mother's work and can be seen more and more often on big stages. They sang together at Nina Matvienko's 60th birthday concerts.
In 1975, Matvienko graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv by correspondence and is actively engaged in literary work.[source?] Back in Soviet times, Nina Matvienko wrote a history of the Hryhorii Veriovka Folk Choir, published several of her own poems, stories and essays. Her works periodically appear on the pages of such magazines as Ukraina, Dzvin, Zhynchyi Svit, and others. The singer's greatest literary achievement was her biographical book "Oh, I Plough a Wide Field", published in 2003 by the Ukrainian Centre of Folk Culture "Ivan Honchar Museum". The book contains song and musical material from her own repertoire (over 250 folk songs and works by Ukrainian composers - carols and shchedrivkas, vesnianky, songs for the Green holidays, Kupala and Petrivtsi, reaping and harvesting, wedding, lullabies, funeral, humorous and dance songs, psalms, historical and class songs, songs about love, family life...). In 2004, Nina Matvienko's book of memoirs "It Will Not Be the Same as It Is" was published. She also dreams of writing a fiction novel about love. In 2010, the singer recorded the introduction to the audiobook of His Beatitude Lubomyr "The Road to the Neighbour".
The singer's repertoire includes many folk songs, including ceremonial, lyrical, humorous, ballad songs, and Ukrainian songs of the 17th and 18th centuries. Nina Matvienko collaborates with well-known contemporary Ukrainian composers; Yevhen Stankovych, Oleh Kyva, Myroslav Skoryk, Iryna Kyrylina, Anna Havrylets and many others write for her.
She has performed in television shows (Marusya Churai, Kateryna Bilokur, The Waters Spilled Over Four Fords), feature films (Straw Bells, The Missing Letter), and radio shows (Flight of the Arrow, Clarinets of Tenderness). The singer has provided the voice for a number of popular science, chronicle and documentary films, several TV and radio programmes. In 1984, she took part in the creation of the Ukrainian animated film Lullaby. In 1988, a video film with Nina Matvienko was made, Rusalka's Week. Among the actress's original theatre and directorial works are the musical performance "Under the Sun" (1997) with the participation of Japanese dancer Tadashi Endo, as well as the grandiose musical and stage performance "We will sow the Golden Stone" (1998). In addition, in 1995 Nina Matvienko performed 16 performances with the American theatre La Mama E.T.C. (New York, USA).
The artist has toured to great success in Mexico, Canada, the USA, the Czech Republic, Poland, Finland, Korea, France, and Latin America.
Filmography
Actress
1971 - "Nina Matvienko Sings" (musical film, directed by Alexander Yakymchuk)
1971 - "Insight" (directed by Vladimir Denisenko)
1973 - "How the Steel Was Tempered" (directed by Mykola Mashchenko)
1986 - "The Wedding is Blamed" (director: Oleksandr Ityhilov)
1987 - "Straw Bells" (director: Yuri Ilyenko)
1987 - "The Golden Wedding" (director: Natalia Motuzko)
1988 - "Mermaid Week" (music video with Tony Matvienko, directed by Natalia Motuzko)
1989 - "Nina Matvienko Sings" (music film)
1990 - "Further than the flight of an arrow" (directed by Vasyl Viter)
and other films...
Vocals
1971 - "Tronka"
1972 - "The Missing Letter"
1980 - "The Egyptian Goose"
1980 - "The time of summer thunderstorms"
1982 - "Candle's Wedding" (cartoon)
1984 - "Lullaby" (cartoon)
1984 - "Ivan and the Pagan King"
1989 - "The road through the ruins"
1989 - "The mountains are smoking"
1994 - "Waiting for the cargo at the Fuzhou raid near the pagoda" (as part of the trio "Golden Keys")
1997 - "A friend of the dead"
1999 - "How the blacksmith sought happiness"
2002 - "Black Council"
2004 - "Sorochinsky Fair" (musical), etc.
She starred in television plays (Marusya Churai, Kateryna Bilokur, The Waters Spilled Over Four Fords); participated in radio performances (Flight of the Arrow, Clarinets of Tenderness).
Since 1989, she has been a member of the Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.
Public activity
Nina Matvienko at the Euromaidan
Nina Matvienko is the chairman of the jury of the Kvitka Tsysyk International Ukrainian Romance Competition, which took place on 1-3 April 2011 at the Lviv Philharmonic.
On 22 October 2011, Nina Matvienko headed the Expert Council (Jury) of the International Charity Talent Festival "Dyvosvit" in Zaporizhzhya.
She participated in the Orange Revolution and Euromaidan.
In 2018, she joined the charity photo project "Sincere. Holidays" charity photo project dedicated to Ukrainian folk costumes and their popularisation. The project was implemented through the efforts of Domosfera shopping centre, Gres Todorchuk communication agency and the Ivan Honchar Museum, a national centre of folk culture. All profits from the sale of the calendars were donated to the museum's reconstruction. Each month in the calendar is dedicated to a traditional Ukrainian holiday, which is indicated by attributes and elements of the outfit.
Criticism
Matvienko has called the war in eastern Ukraine not patriotic but fratricidal, and is critical and emotional about the authorities.
In January 2015, Matviyenko took part in the Kyiv-Donetsk teleconference "When to expect peace?" on Channel 17, where militants from the so-called DPR took part.
People's Artist of Ukraine, singer Nina Matvienko did not visit the Ukrainian military in the east, as she was initially against the war between Ukraine and Russia. The artist did not find the right songs and could not accept the fact that she would be singing only for one side, despite the fact that the people of both countries are brothers: "I have never travelled. I was in Sloviansk twice. I didn't know what to sing to them. Firstly, I didn't want this war, I was protesting. To sing for some and not for others? Both of them are brothers."
Awards and nominations
Awards
"Young Voices" (Ukraine, 1978);
World Radio Contest of Folk Songs in Bratislava (1978);
All-Union TV contest "With a Song Through Life" (1979);
XI World Festival of Youth and Students (Moscow, 1985);
All-Ukrainian Prize "Woman of the Third Millennium" in the nomination "Significant Figure" (2006);
M. Voronin Special Award "For High Lifestyle" within the framework of the national programme "Person of the Year" (2018)
Ukrainian Song of the Year Award in the Legend of Ukrainian Song nomination for the song "Magic Violin" (2020).
Nominations
Yuna Award in the nomination "Best Duo", for the song "This Day" (2019), jointly with Monatic.
State awards
Nina Matvienko's creative career has been recognised: in 1978, the singer was awarded the title of Honoured Artist for her great contribution to the development of Ukrainian art and for her active cultural and creative work, and in 1985, she was named People's Artist of Ukraine. Also in 2016, she was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Kyiv"[.
Shevchenko State Prize of Ukraine (1988);
The highest honour of the Kasyan International Prize Foundation - the Order of St Nicholas the Wonderworker (1996);
Order of Princess Olga, III degree (1997);
On 21 January 2006, by the Decree of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, she was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine;
Order of Princess Olga, II class (2020) - for significant personal contribution to state-building, socio-economic, scientific, technical, cultural and educational development of Ukraine, significant labour achievements and high professionalism.
Family.
Father: Mytrofan Ustymovych Matviienko - a peasant.
Mother: Antonina Ilkivna.
Husband: Petro Honchar (1949) - artist, general director of the Ivan Honchar Museum. Currently, they are not actually married.
Daughter: Antonina Petrovna Honchar (1981) - singer, wife of Arsen Mirzoyan.
Son Ivan Honchar (Januarii) is a hierodeacon of the Church of St John the Theologian in Nizhyn.
Son Andrii Honchar - artist, icon painter.
Granddaughters: Ulyana (1998), Nina Mirzoyan (2016).
