Severin-Mstyslav-Ihor Palydovych, stage name Erko (born 17 March 1938, Hostiv village, now Tlumach district, Ivano-Frankivsk region) is a Ukrainian singer from the United States who performs Ukrainian lyrical chanson and Ukrainian chansonier.
Biography
Severin-Mstyslav-Ihor Palydovych was born on 17 March 1938 in the village of Hostiv, now Tlumach district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Severin's parents worked at the Lviv Opera House - his father was a conductor and musician in the orchestra, a composer, and his mother was an artist, singer and dancer.
At the end of the war, when the Red Army was already advancing, the Palydovych family fled Lviv for the West, where they ended up in a German concentration camp, from which they were liberated by the American military a few months later. The Palydovych family ended up in the American occupation zone and remained in West Germany, where life was difficult. In 1949, they moved to the United States for permanent residence (when Severin was 11 years old). His parents were unable to find work in their former professions in the United States, and the family suffered from poverty at first, but gradually life improved.
Severin Palydovych was a member of Plast in his early years, belonging to the Black Sea Scouts. He was a senior member of the Plast leadership.
In the United States, Severin Palydovych worked in Clifton as a teacher and then as a school principal. He also worked as a coach in skiing and other sports.
Erko did not only teach children and sing. At one time, he was fascinated by mountain climbing, which he hasn't given up since. He worked as a ski coach. This hobby is facilitated by the fact that Severin has a house in Hantar, the centre of the mountaineering sport. He is the president of the Carpathian Letschatar Club, founded in 1924 in Lviv.
In 1958, he married a Ukrainian woman, Olha, who gave him a daughter, Volodymyr (1959, 17 March), and a son, Severin-Bohdan (1962).
In his early childhood, while still living in Lviv, Severin learned to play the violin. While living in the United States, he early on felt the urge to sing and taught himself to play the guitar in his youth. In the 70s and 80s, he performed with a live orchestra at Ukrainian Culture Days in the United States and other cultural events of the Ukrainian diaspora, performing Ukrainian folk repertoire and other popular songs.
In 1994, Severin Palydovych gave his first concert in Ukraine at the Architect's Palace in Kyiv. In the same year, Severin Palydovych recorded his first disc of Ukrainian songs. Erko performs folk songs, his own songs, and many songs by Veselovsky, Haydenko, Kryshchenko, Gadenko, and Giga.
In the 2000s, six albums with his songs appeared on the Ukrainian music market. Erko had a few concerts in Kyiv and Lviv. In Ukraine, his interests are represented by the artist Anatoliy Burtovoy. Five of Erko's albums released in Ukraine are illustrated by Burtovoy's works. All of them feature the orchestra of Igor Kyryliuk, who arranged all the pieces.
On 25 September 2010, on behalf of the President of Ukraine, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko presented high state awards to prominent representatives of the Ukrainian community in the United States of America. Among the recipients was the President of the Carpathian Vise Club, Severin Palydovych.
During his visit to Lviv in February 2016, Erko said in an interview:
"I could not believe that after the collapse of the Soviet Union I would be able to be in an independent Ukraine. And it's a fantastic thing that I will be able to perform on the stage where my relatives, in particular my mother, used to sing. When I was a child, I used to run around that stage because we lived near the opera house and went to rehearsals with my mother every day."
At the same time, the concert "From Veselovsky to Erko" took place. The proceeds from the sale of tickets and Erko's CDs were donated to the treatment of ATO soldiers who are in the Lviv Military Hospital.
Discography
"If I had..." (2003)
If I had... (3:57)
A brook (3:20)
White daffodils (3:57)
Let it be (3:22)
Into the world (2:43)
Natalia Street (3:10)
The distant summer (2:55)
The violin is crying (4:16)
The night wanders (3:45)
Love is a dream (3:12)
In my land (4:30)
Summer is coming (3:03)
The last night (4:26)
I have a baby in Montreal (2:38)
The cherry is ripening (2:47)
A cuckoo in the garden (3:24)
White snow (2:51)
Look for love in others (4:20)
My friends (3:57)
In the Garden of Eden (6:14)
Cheers! One more time!
Fly away a sad song (3:23)
Her mother used to beat her (3:10)
The moon is in the sky (3:03)
I will go to the distant mountains (3:35)
Black Sea tango (4:00)
Remember the girl (3:21)
Cherries grow in mum's garden (3:57)
Holy night (2:55)
Romance (3:31)
Hazel (3:55)
A dream (3:30)
Black braid (4:01)
Oh black, she is black (2:44)
Two fates (3:16)
The night is like this, Lord (3:12)
I'm coming to you (3:37)
You lured me (4:44)
How can I not love you (3:43)
I'm going to the meadow again (5:01)
Is it true (3:10)
Lviv is already asleep (2005)
Lviv is already asleep (4:46)
Eyes (2:45)
Aloe (2:31)
Edelweiss (2:40)
Starfall (3:22)
Draw me the night (3:45)
Tell me (3:39)
Welcome the spring (2:39)
When you find someone... (3:22)
Remember the sea (2:55)
Late meeting (6:23)
Don't joke about love (2:53)
An emigrant (3:57)
My beloved (3:39)
There were days (2:53)
In Pidzamche (3:10)
O beautiful beauty (5:30)
I don't know myself (4:19)
My father's song (4:18)
White lilies of the valley (2005)
White lilies of the valley (3:28)
The train has started (3:29)
Tell me (2:54)
A towel (2:31)
The salty wind (5:06)
Spruce house (4:36)
Two Pigeons (3:16)
The crew (no)
Bird cherry (2:57)
Why do you have... (4:31)
Oh spruce (3:14)
Ash trees (4:15)
There was a Hutsul (2:49)
Two Roses (3:39)
Marina (2:03)
Old age will wait... (2:11)
Red Ruta (3:14)
The written stone (3:39)
Dawn... (3:12)
Cornflowers (3:02)
Gary gary... (2:15)
In the pasture (1:56)
Be healthy (2:20)
All My Life (2005)
My whole life... (4:32)
Hutsulko Ksenia (3:58)
Red Cherries (2:57)
Zagrai We are Gypsies (3:08)
The Last Tango (3:19)
Because it's May (2:34)
I would be glad to... (3:49)
Above the Prut (3:50)
White Hat (2:27)
Scattered Roses (3:36)
Money for Books (2:15)
There was no need to lament (3:40)
Red Poppies (4:25)
Strong Wind (4:02)
Marina (2:03)
Distant Summer (5:00)
Play We Gypsy Old Man (4:07)
We were greying in the Twilight (3:01)
Yesterday (4:21)
Farewell Angel... (2:30)
Only for you (2005)
Only for you (3:10)
If only I had (3:57)
Two pigeons (3:14)
White lilies of the valley (3:26)
Eyes (2:45)
In my land (4:31)
I have a baby in Montreal (2:38)
My whole life (4:32)
Let it be (3:22)
White daffodils (3:57)
An emigrant (3:57)
Lviv is already asleep (4:46)
A cherry tree is growing (3:56)
Draw me the night (3:46)
Play We are Gypsies (3:08)
There's a cuckoo in the garden (3:24)
Don't joke about love (2:53)
Red Cherries (2:57)
My friends (3:57)
In the Garden of Eden (6:14)
