Ukrainian musician, artistic director and chief conductor of the Philharmonia Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Chernihiv Philharmonic Center. Honored Artist of Ukraine (1996).
Biography.
His father was an anti-aircraft battery commander who was wounded in 1941. In the hospital, he met a nurse and married her. The family moved to Chernihiv, where Mykola Sukach was born on May 25, 1946. The future conductor graduated from the Chernihiv Music School with a degree in accordion, and at the age of 15 began performing as a soloist in a folk instruments orchestra. In 1966, he entered the second year of his studies at the Kharkiv Conservatory, where his creative mentor was Volodymyr Podhornyi. He studied conducting with Kostyantyn Doroshenko.
After graduating from the conservatory in 1969, he returned to Chernihiv, where he began working as a conductor of the symphony orchestra of the music school. However, he was immediately drafted into the army and served in Pskov in the airborne troops.
He taught at the Chernihiv Music College, directed the folk instruments orchestra, and later the chamber orchestra of the Philharmonic.
In the late 70s, the conductor almost died. One evening he witnessed a group of young men harassing a girl. Mykola stood up for the girl, but on his way back he was ambushed and received 11 stab wounds, one of which was in his heart. He survived clinical death, but after rehabilitation managed to return to normal life. After that incident, he quit smoking and stopped drinking alcohol altogether.
The conductor was offered to lead the Kyiv Orchestra, but he stayed in his hometown and in 1999 founded the Philharmonia Academic Symphony Orchestra. Since then, Mykola Sukach has been its permanent artistic director and chief conductor.
He is married (his wife is Olena Petrivna), has two daughters, Natalia and Marina, and a son, Yaroslav.
Creative activity
Mykola Sukach (right) with Antonii Baryshevskyi
Together with the Philharmonia, Mykola Sukach plays symphonies by Haydn, Mozart, all symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann, Bruckner (1-7), Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Kalinnikov, Borodin, Bortkevich and Scriabin.
A special place in the conductor's repertoire is occupied by Sergei Bortkevich. It was Mykola Bortkevych who, together with a few enthusiastic colleagues, revived the work of this composer. The Chernihiv Orchestra was the first to perform all of the composer's symphonic works. For this discovery, Mykola Sukach was twice nominated for the Taras Shevchenko National Prize.
He is involved in joint projects with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Symphony Orchestra of the National Opera of Ukraine, the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, the National Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra and the Donetsk Symphony Orchestra.
Mykola Sukach is the founder and artistic director of the annual international classical music festival "Siverskie Musical Evenings". The orchestra under the direction of the conductor performed together with pianists Mykola Luhansky, Vadym Rudenko, Mykola Suk, Oleh Poliansky, Borys Berezovsky, Antoniy Baryshevsky, cellist Oleksandr Kniazev, violinists Anatoliy Bazhenov, Oleksandr Semchuk and many other performers.
The artist has performed as a guest conductor in the USA, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Croatia (Istria Festival), Russia, Poland and Belarus. He performed in Kyiv at the Summer Music Evenings festival.
Awards and titles
Order of Merit, I degree (August 23, 2021) - for significant personal contribution to state-building, strengthening of defense capabilities, socio-economic, scientific, technical, cultural and educational development of the Ukrainian state, significant labor achievements, many years of conscientious work and on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence
Order of Merit, II class (June 25, 2016) - for significant personal contribution to state-building, socio-economic, scientific, technical, cultural and educational development of Ukraine, significant labor achievements and high professionalism
Order of Merit, III class (November 24, 2009) - for significant personal contribution to the development of the cultural and artistic heritage of Ukraine, high professional skills and active participation in the Festival of Arts of Ukraine
Honored Worker of Arts of Ukraine (August 22, 1996) - for a significant personal contribution to the enhancement of national spiritual heritage, high professionalism and on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of Ukraine's independence
Certificate of Honor of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (June 23, 2003) - for a significant personal contribution to the preservation of the Ukrainian musical heritage and high professional skills
Honorary Citizen of Chernihiv (May 26, 2016) - for special services to the city
