Sviatoslav Tarasovych Silenko (3 March 1994, Kyiv) is a Ukrainian musician, multi-instrumentalist, kobzar, composer, actor, traveller, founder and leader of the band "SVIATOSLAV".
Biography
Born on 3 March 1994 in Kyiv, in the family of famous bandura players Taras and Nelya Silenko. He grew up and spent his childhood in the Akademgorodok neighbourhood, from which many Ukrainian cultural figures came out. At the age of 4, he learnt to read and became interested in historical literature and the Indians of North America. The books of A. Kashchenko, S. Cherkasenko, V. Malik, Sat-Ok, F. Cooper and others shaped the young musician's worldview.
Education.
He learned to play the Old World bandura and a significant part of the repertoire from his father, Taras Silenko, and from the age of 5, he actively performed with his father in Ukraine and abroad.
During his first 9 years of schooling, he studied at Kyiv Gymnasium No. 287, where he was an active participant in artistic events; at the same time, he attended music schools (piano and guitar).
After the 9th grade, he went to the evening school No. 5 and entered the acting training studio at the National Honoured Bandura Choir named after Heorhiy Maiboroda (2010-2012), where he studied with Yosyp Yanytskyi, Volodymyr Openko, and Hennadiy Neshchotnyi.
In 2011, he was a member of the band Chur (vocals, old world bandura, folk winds).
In 2016, he graduated from the Department of Musical Art of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts, 1st year, bandura class; at that time he became a laureate of the Chervona Ruta 2013 competition, Kyiv, in the field of kobza and lyrnyk performance, and from the 2nd to 4th year he transferred to the correspondence department of the Department of Folklore.
In parallel with his studies at the university, he went to the village of Kriachkivka to visit Yurii Fedynskyi, where he learned to make things and in 2016, under Yurii's mentorship, he made his first instrument - an old world bandura for hitchhiking. And in the same village, he takes over the song tradition from the grandmothers of the Drevo band.
In 2014-2015, he was a member of the band "Folkneri" (bandura, flute, keyboards, backing vocals).
While studying at university, he became interested in hitchhiking and, until the start of the coronavirus pandemic (2019), travelled around Europe every year, where he played kobzars on the streets and at local festivals. During his most recent trip in 2019, he started a text blog on Facebook called #shyrokyi_shlyakh.
In 2020, he officially presented his solo folk gothic metal project "SVIATOSLAV" with the song "Holy Evening", the music video for which was filmed without the involvement of professional cameramen, but only with the help of the musician's friends. Subsequently, a video clip for the song "I Remember" was released, directed by Sviatoslav himself.
Concert activity
He has performed in almost all regions of Ukraine at various concert venues - from city streets to the best concert halls in the country. In particular, in the Palace "Ukraine", the National Philharmonic, the Taras Shevchenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine, the Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, and the Zhovtnevyi Palace. He has also toured extensively abroad, including Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Georgia, and the United Arab Emirates. He also performed at the commemoration of Ukrainian heroes in Kholodnyi Yar, at the Krayina Mriy, Ethnoevolution, Lirnytska Pokrova and other festivals. He participated in author's radio programmes by Emma Babchuk, Alla Demydenko, Roman Koval and others. He has made numerous appearances on television.
Additional facts
Starting from the age of 5 and throughout his school years, under the mentorship of his father, he was a regular participant and winner of city and national competitions of Taras Shevchenko's poetry.
He participated in the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity.
In 2005, he took part in Oleg Skrypka's project "Songs of the Barricades. The spirit does not fade, the spirit does not die!", where he recorded one of his first original songs "Winter was surprised" with lyrics by Ivan Franko.
He was an actor-musician in the play "Buna" directed by Lena Roman.
He was an actor in the play "Natalka Poltavka" at the Ivan Franko Theatre.
He worked for a Chinese bank and the most popular Ukrainian email service as an HR manager.
Participated in the recording of the songs "Zapovit", "Tuman Yarom", "Oi Šermukšnio" for the album "XIII" by the band Shyroky Lan.
He has a collection of folk clothes that he inherited from his father.
He is fond of cycling. His personal record is 300 km in a day.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022), he has served in the Svoboda volunteer battalion at the 112th TRO Brigade (Kyiv).
Together with Roman Koval, Lesia Kozenko, and Yevhen Buket, he compiled a book of memoirs about his father, Taras Silenko, Singer of an Irreconcilable Ukraine.
