Stepaniuk Petro Naumovych (10 August 1927-1991) was a well-known folklorist, ethnographer, recorder and promoter of traditional Ukrainian folk music.
Biography
Petro Naumovych was born on 10 August 1927 in the village of Luko, Volodymyrets district, Rivne region. He studied at the Dubno Cultural and Educational College. The artist's work includes many arrangements of folk melodies. With his participation, the best folklore groups of Dubrovytsia district were created, promoting the traditions of Polissia singing. He was a connoisseur, admirer and populariser of Polissya folk songs.
For Petro Stepaniuk, song became his happy destiny. He could not imagine life without it. It rocked him in its palms, lulled him to sleep with its tenderness and uniqueness. He first heard a song from his mother in the village of Luko, Volodymyrets district, and from there she led him into the wide world of folk art, with which he connected his life. Here he heard folk music and melodies played by village singers who "polished" their skills at weddings.
"Shine, moon, from heaven
To our loaf,
To make it visible
To cut it fine
One small crumb at a time,
For the whole family"
Later, Petro Naumovych, with his accordion behind him, often on foot, would hurry to his fellow villagers to meet them for a song. He was not only a great helper to amateur groups, but also organised many of them himself. In particular, the Krupove village choir, which was a popular group at the time, which won many folk art festivals, performed on television, and whose songs were recorded on a disc, and was awarded the title of "Folk Choir." There are discs with its songs. Petro Naumovych has received many awards, success, and public recognition at all levels. There were Kyiv and Lviv, Rivne and Belarusian Kermash, countless reports and exchange concerts, agitation brigade routes, recordings on radio and television. On his initiative, in 1956, annual festivals of folk art were introduced in the Vysotsk district. But in all this variety of events, there was Stepaniuk's soul. It greeted all the people as if they were his own: "May you have a good day", and God forbid that anyone would ever notice even a tiny bit of arrogance or self-congratulation in him. This modest man was known for his extraordinary work ethic. Working as the director of the district house of culture, he paid attention to all village clubs, of which there were 120 at the time, and provided them with methodological and practical assistance. He was not only an assistant to young amateur groups, but also organised many groups himself.
Creative teams
With the participation of Petro Naumovych, the Kurash and Lisivsk choirs, choirs at the district, Orvianytsia, and Zaluzhzhia houses of culture, the Berehynia folklore group in Krupove, the first Oleksiyevets family ensemble in Zaluzhzhia, and the Chudinovych family ensemble in Svarytsevychi were organised in Dubrovytsia district. Back in 1966, Petro Naumovych first met the choir of Kurash village on the district stage. And from 1970 until the end of his life he was the permanent leader of this collective. Under his leadership, in 1973, the choir was awarded a diploma from the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In 1975, the ensemble was awarded the title of "People's". The amateur artist wrote many of his own works. The most famous are "Polissia Krai" with lyrics by V. Zhyhun, "To a Son on the Road" with lyrics by M. Syngaivskyi, and together with V. Popenko they wrote "The Song of Dubrovytsia". But most of all, he cared about folk songs. Thanks to his creative works, the ritual of "Driving the Bush (Green Holidays)" in Svarytsevychi village and the Kurash "Vesnyanky" have been preserved in Polissia. He always facilitated folklore expeditions from Rivne, Kyiv, and Moscow to capture as many pearls of the folk soul as possible. The talented musician and folklorist died in 1991.
