The Ukrainian Exhebition in Europarlament devoted to the HOLODOMOR (Artificial Famine in Ukraine in 1932-33). Brussels, Belgium, March, 2007

Playing during the Exhebition

As a guest in a europarlamenter's office

Inside the Europarlament

The Official Ukrainian delegation with a Prime Minister in a head

The Exhebition worked 5 days from 9.00 to 18.00 and the town of Brussels could not be seen by the Exhebition team until it's end

Contrasts of The King's Town

"The rest of a tourist in an old Brussels pub near merry Manneken"

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LISSBERG-2004

 

Lissberg festival (Germany) become the first one for Kyiv Kobzar League outside of Ukraine. We were invited by Goethe-Institut and German Goverment



It became possible thanks to mister Kurt Reichmann and very long and powerful work of this greatest enthusiast of traditional hardy-gardy and bagpipe music of Europe.



He invited us to 31-th "Lissberg Drehleier und Dudelsack Festival" - Lissberg Hardy-gardy and Bagpipe Festival - to one of the oldest medieval fortress in Europe in Lissberg (Ortenberg) in Hessen (Germany) 40 km from Frankfurt am Main.

 

THE FIRST DAY



First evening began almost officiously - with a party organized by Major of Ortenberg.

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But this charming major made the atmosphere very friendly and very quickly we began to sing and dance.

DAYS 2-3-4 th.



Festival camp grown.

 


As a first we attended courses provided by Lizzy and Thomas Blau. We studied western "snare technik" - the method of accents in hardy-gardy in dances.

 


Thomas Blau, Myhajlo Hai and Lizzy Blau - our teachers: Mychajlo - in Ukraine, Lizzy and Thomas - in Germany.


Beg-pipers wasn't without new information too.



Even violinists find some "new" old instruments!






What about hardy-gardy players? They find a lot. No doubt.



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Preparing to this trip we firstly wanted to find something of German epic tradition and there we met one singing couple. It was real impression! Old Minnesong - what a luck for us! And the instrument was made by Kurt Reichmann especially for epic song using old manuscript.

 

Every night was for dances. "Kobzar tanzkurs" and it's heroes: Trojista musyka (something like "Trinity music" - two violins and one drum) "Nadobryden'" - by Mykhajlo Khai. And Taras Kompanychenko as a "Unsere Tanzmeister" (Our Dance-master, Germ.) in a process of teaching:





And we looked and studied foreign dances too. And it was great - thanks to the very friendly atmosphere of Lissberg festival.



All the days yield a new impressions and meetings.



There were many recitals of a different groups and performers in the Festival.



Children were interested on unusual instruments too.



John&Sondra Bromka - they came from America. Medieval music is their profession but not only, if they are in Lissberg. It's their live, not less.


THE DAYS AFTER THE FESTIVAL

The most impressive and unforgettable museum - The museum of music instruments created by Kurt Reichmann. never seen such a museum with almost all instruments in a working condition. Even old ukrainian hardy-gardy of IX-th century played and show "snare technik" which was completely lost in Ukraine in 20-30-th years of XX-th century.





After the Festival our Lizzy & Thomas gave a concert. And what a good concert it was!



And our concerts were not stopped.






The next day become the day of the returning to the modern civilization. This unpleasant process made us tired after so good time . Nobody wanted to play and sing. We only walked. We remembered 8 fine days in the Nature of the Western Europe's heart:



The best sightseeing of the last day in Germany was in Kurt Reichmann's workshop:





 

What next? Where kobzar's pathways will lead us tomorrow? It was the question.



We don't really know. We just walking.



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