Kyrylo Yaremovych Tsependa (24 December 1914, Dzhuryn village, now Chortkiv district, Ternopil region - 2 October 2003) was a KODUS scholar, musician, and conductor of choirs in Ukraine and the diaspora.
He was born on 24 December 1914 in the village of Dzhuryn, now Chortkiv district, Ternopil region, Ukraine.
He studied at the Buchach State Gymnasium (during his studies, he had Muscovite views and "worked" in Muscovite organisations). He graduated from the Terebovlia Gymnasium in 1937. He studied at the Mykola Lysenko Music Institute in Lviv (Mykola Kolessa's choral conducting class), and later studied at the Conservatory (Music Academy) in Vienna in 1941-1942.
He began his musical career as a gymnasium student: first as an orchestrator, later as a leader of string orchestras in Buchach and Terebovlia. He was the founder and conductor of the choir in his native Dzhuryn (first place at the district competition in Chortkiv. During his studies in Lviv, he directed the choirs of the Craftsmen's Bursa, the Prosvita, Narodna Torgovia, and other societies. 1941-1945 - Regent of the Choir at St Barbara's Church in Vienna, conductor of the Vienna Sich Society Choir (performed in Königsberg and Gdansk). In 1945, he moved to Munich, and from 1945 to 1949, he was the conductor of the Trembita Men's Choir in Germany (he gave more than 300 concerts in Ukrainian internment camps).
In 1949, he moved to the United States (Detroit); he worked as a music teacher at a parish school, and directed church choirs in Axonia and Rochester. Since 1955, he has been conductor of the choir of St John the Baptist Church (until 1990) in Detroit; later, of the mixed and male choirs Trembita (since 1970), and the Veselka Mandolin Orchestra (he performed with them in the USA and Canada, and recorded a number of records). He was the head of the bandura players' chapel at the SUM branch, etc.
On 3 March 1973, he founded the Gomin Ukrayiny radio studio in Detroit, where he hosted an hour-long programme in Ukrainian every week (since 1974).
Since 1989, he has been conducting the Vatra Men's Choir (Warren, Michigan). Author of musical works of various genres, publications in the press. He has published The Singer of Folk Songs and The Divine Service in Folk Prayers.
