Petro Ordynskyi (* 1886 - † 1973) was a Ukrainian singer.
A brief biography
In his childhood, Petro's luscious baritone was noticed by the sexton of the local church and strongly recommended that his parents send their son to study. However, his parents wanted their son to become a lawyer and sent him to the Law Faculty of Kyiv University. Nevertheless, he continued to sing, and in 1910, when Oleksandr Koshytskyi was selecting choristers for the university's student men's choir, he heard Ordynskyi and began to train him. In 1913, Ordynskyi graduated from the university. He served as a clerk of the Kyiv City Court Chamber.
When he met Lidia Barvinska, he fell in love with her, and in 1916 they got married and sang in choirs together.
At the beginning of January 1919, the Ordynskys were included in the list of the Ukrainian Republican Choir, which moved to Kamianets-Podilskyi. On 26 March of the same year, by order of the Chief Ataman Symon Petliura, the choir went on a tour of Western Europe.
In early October 1922, the Ukrainian National Choir arrived in the United States, and on 5 October, they performed at Carnegie Hall. The very next day, The Sun wrote: "Before the large audience clapped their hands and shouted until they were hoarse, one could see eyes full of tears of sincere ecstasy... Last night Mr. Koshyts introduced his choir to America, and it was a triumph. It was a joy to listen to them."
As a member of the choir, he performed in Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, and at the stadium in Mexico City. After the choir disbanded in 1924, Ordynskyi and his wife Lydia settled in the Queens borough of New York City. Together with his comrades Ivan Davydenko, Klym Shchyt, and Mykhailo Hrebinetskyi, he founded the Ukrainian National Quartet and performed at the invitation of Ukrainian communities. In the autumn of 1927, the group recorded 10 songs on 5 discs at the Okr-Electric recording studio, accompanied by the Pavlo Pechenega-Ulitsky Orchestra. In December 1928, records with a solo by Petro Hordynskyi were released, selling briskly in Myron Surmach's music shop, with Yurii Kyrychenko as the conductor.
In 1928, as a soloist of the Banduryst choir, he performed a duet with Solomiya Krushelnytska at the Stuyvesant High School. Since 1930, he performed on the radio.
In 1933, he made a large concert tour with Vasyl Avramenko, and the funds raised went to the needs of organising the World's Fair in Chicago - the Ukrainian diaspora represented Ukraine.
Among the folk songs performed:
"Oh, the dawn has risen",
"Oh, why is the green field blackened",
"Oh, in the field, and in Boryshpol",
"From Across the Black Sea".
"Curly-haired Kateryna",
"Have I not grown up, mum?"
"At the end of the dam",
"There's a beetle on the road, a beetle",
"Oh, Galya, Galya",
"Steep banks have developed",
"Oh, the grove, the grove"
"Oh, the owl sat on the grave" by M. Lysenko.
He did not try much to perform in opera - only two performances are known - in December 1932, in the hall of the Ukrainian Folk House in New York, the role of Sultan in the opera "Zaporozhets Beyond the Danube" by S. Hulak-Artemovsky, the second - on 30 January 1937, the same role, as part of the Mykola Karlashov's opera group.
In 1933, he performed the role of Ivan Mazepa in the performance "In the Camp of Hetman Mazepa", staged on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Hetman's birth, at the Metropolitan Opera in Philadelphia. A combined chorus of 200 singers and 300 dancers under the direction of Vasyl Avramenko were involved.
Together with his wife Lydia, he took part in concerts in New York in 1933, 1935, 1936, 1939, and 1940.
He performed for the last time on 19 October 1947 - at the Academy's concert dedicated to the memory of the heroes of Kruty who gave their lives for the freedom of Ukraine - at the Washington Irving Guy Schoole.
He performed together with singers Baluk Iryna, Mykhailo Holynskyi, Maria Hrebinetska, Olha Zadoretska, Maria Polyniak-Lysohir, Stefaniia Turash, and violinists Donna Hresko, Halyna Oliinyk, and Roman Prydatkevych.
He worked as a labourer and later as a manager of a match factory in the suburbs of New York. At work, he injured his leg and almost became a cripple. During his illness, Ordynsky was supported by the Ukrainian community. He worked at the factory until 1966.
His wife Lydia outlived him by 21 years and died on 5 December 1994 in New York.
