MAESTRO VASYL KARDASH 22 January 1923 — 22 March 2002

Maestro Vasyl Kardash was born in the village of Novosilka, district Pidhayt’si, Ternopil region,

Ukraine, in the nationally conscious family of Ivan and Tekla (Pjurkiv) Kardash. His father was a

head desiatnyk (officer) in the Ukrainian Halych Army (UHA), and was wounded in the battles

for Lviv, for which he was awarded with meritorious service crosses. After immigrating to

Canada, Ivan was promoted to the rank of bulavnyj (senior officer). Educated as an agronomist,

Ivan Kardash was also a social activist who organized: Sokoly, cultural centres, Prosvita , drama

groups, public schools, the publication Silsky Hospodar, an orchestra, consumer and credit

unions, and district dairies, most of which he headed.

Vasyl Kardash was an excellent student throughout primary and secondary schools. In 1938-

1939 he graduated with honours in a conductor’s program associated with Prosvita from the

Lviv Conservatory. At a very young age he began to reveal a talent for composition and began to

write music, such as Na Sviatyj Vechir (On the Holy Eve) to words written by Bohdan Lepkyj,

which he later developed into full choral and orchestral pieces. In Novosilka he conducted the

school, community and church choirs and a brass and woodwind orchestra. Under Soviet

occupation, in the spring of 1940 at the Pidhayetchyna choir festival Kardash, although the

youngest conductor, was awarded first prize. In contrast to others, his choir did not perform

any Soviet songs. A government commission from Kyiv noticed this talented young man and

offered him state funding for studies in Moscow, and later in Italy. However, at that time

Kardash was already second in command (pid-rayonovy) in the youth wing of the Organization

of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), a Ukrainian resistance organization, and so he declined the

promising offer. From the summer of 1941, while Ukraine was under German occupation, Vasyl

Kardash, codename V’jun, ascended as head of the regional youth unit of OUN in Pidhayetchyna.

According to his senior officers, the Pidhaytsi district was exemplary. Other youth, even from as

far as Kryvorizya (Eastern Ukraine) and Zasiannya, (Western Ukraine) were sent there for

practical leadership training.

Kardash oversaw the regional relations of the organization, as well as the National Youth

Leadership’s contacts with the Eastern regions. He was also in charge of the region’s

underground printing-house, which was located in his family home. He underwent OUN’s

(Aktyvu) ideological and political training and took a correspondence course in political

sciences from the Podyebrady academy. In the spring of 1943 he graduated with honours in

senior officer’s training in the Slavyatyn forest, led by instructors from the legion of Roman

Chuprynka Shukhevych.

On August 26, 1943, the German Gestapo arrested Vasyl Kardash along with his father and

brother Mykhaylo. They were incarcerated as political prisoners in Nazi prisons in Berezhany,

Ternopil and Lviv (Lontsky Street–the most brutal prison), and then were subjected to the

horrors of concentration camps in Auschwitz, Mauthausen, Melk and Ebenesee. On May, 6,

1945, near death, they were freed by American forces. On his left arm Vasyl bore a haunting

memory of this period– a tattoo of his German prisoner number 155108.

After liberation, in Munich Kardash while furthering his musical studies also graduated with a

degree in political science at the Ukrainian Graduate School of Economics. There he conducted a

choir for a papal apostolic visit, and a male choir of the Ukrainian Student Community, performing songs of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). In 1946 he arranged and performed, for the first time in the diaspora, the UPA march No More Suffering. In this period, he was also a member of the regional Youth Leadership of OUN, and participated in the establishment of the Ukrainian Youth Association (UYA) in the diaspora.

In the fall of 1948, Kardash emigrated to Canada, and between 1949 and 1952 in Vancouver,

alongside his full-time work, he conducted the choirs of the UYA and Ukrainian Orthodox

community in Vancouver. As an ethno-cultural adviser to the UYA, he also organized national

commemorative celebrations and theatrical performances. After moving to Winnipeg, from 1952 to 1961 Kardash conducted the men’s, women’s and mixed choirs of the Prosvita Institute in Winnipeg. In an article dedicated to the memory of Vasyl Kardash, Yaroslav Tsvyk, a former choir-member, wrote the following:

“In 1952 Vasyl Kardash became a well known conductor in Winnipeg….Here passed his almost 10-year musical epoch. It was here he married the beautiful and talented Larissa Chomenko,

and it was here his daughter Virlana was born.

Everybody remembers the extraordinarily talented, spirited conductor Vasyl Kardash,

wonderfully knowledgeable in musical choral singing. The repertoire of his choir consisted of

liturgical, Ukrainian and western European classics, folkloric, insurgent, heroic, lyrical songs

and works of contemporary composers.

His choir regularly took part in the consecrations of many Ukrainian churches throughout all

Manitoba; they sang pontifical liturgies; won first place at all carol and cultural festivals.

Whenever and wherever Kardash’s choirs appeared, they were the gem and pride of academies,

jubilees or anniversaries.

Instant responses, high expectations of choristers, discipline, diligence – these were the

conductor’s trademarks. All of us loved our maestro. Vasyl Kardash was a deeply passionate

person with a kind heart and sincere soul.

Thanks to the maestro’s persistent work, the devotion and sacrifice of all singers, the collective

achieved unbelievable successes in the choral arts. The choir, a highly professional collective,

performed together with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at the best concert venues in

Manitoba – Auditorium, Playhouse, University of Manitoba.

One cannot overestimate the enormous and beneficial work of the Kardash-led choirs in the

renaissance, preservation and popularization of Ukrainian song, culture, and life. He united all

walks of people – teachers, businessmen, architects, doctors, nurses, soldiers – in order to

remind them of their roots.” (Postup, July 7, 2002).

After a difficult illness (1962-1963), Kardash finished his studies at the University of Ottawa (in

linguistics and history) with a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 1964 at the University of Montreal he

obtained his Master’s degree in humanities with honours (cum laude), defending his thesis

Depictions of Life of Ukrainian People in I.P. Kotlyarevsky’s Eneida.

From January 1965 he became the conductor of the UYA’s men’s choir Prometheus in Toronto.

He subsequently organized a women’s choir Dibrova and a brass band Baturyn, all of which he

conducted for 20 years. His orchestra and choirs performed at EXPO-67 (the International

Exhibition in Montreal) to commemorate the centennial anniversary of Canada, and they gave

numerous concerts in Canada and the USA. In 1972 he organized, together with his wife, a first

ever tour of the three ensembles through Europe, performing in England, Belgium, Germany,

Italy and the Vatican. Their performances were broadcast on television, BBC Radio and Radio

Vatican. In 1973 Kardash recorded the Pontifical Divine Liturgy celebrated by His Beatitude

Cardinal Josyf Slipyj, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Catholic Church and Most Reverend Kyr Isidore

Borecky, Ukrainian Catholic Bishop of Toronto and Eastern Canada. In the spring of 1975 the

choirs Prometheus and Dibrova won first place at an Eastern Canadian choir festival.

Maestro Kardash arranged many revolutionary, underground, insurgent songs for choirs,

composed music for a number of them and an array of instrumentations for brass orchestra.

The Kyiv newspaper Kreshchatyk [26, III, 2003] describe Kardash’s contributions in the

following way:

“Kardash was not just a well-known conductor with an original manner (contemporaries

commented that it was like he communicated with his singers and musicians with the language

of eyes and fingers) but a composer as well. He composed the cantata ‘For Ukraine’ to the words

of Marko Boyeslav and ‘On the Holy Eve’ to a poem by Bohdan Lepkyj; he also transcribed many

insurgent manuscripts, for example, ‘Neither tears, nor lamentations, nor curses.’ He also

created instrumental pieces for brass orchestras.”

In total, Kardash’s choirs and bands released fifteen recordings including 3 double-albums.

Always active in the choral arts, artistically directing the choirs, he was also a founding member

of the Ontario Folk Arts Council, a participant of government conductor’s seminars, and a

member of the Federation of Choir Associations. He was the author of reviews, articles,

editorials published by Vyzvolny Shlyakh (Liberating Path), Avangard (Vanguard) and Homin

Ukrainy (Ukrainian Echo); a member of Taras Shevchenko Scientific Society; and a research

author on the Early poetic works of Ivan Franko, The psychology of masses in the Chorna Rada,

by Pantelemon Kulish and others. His awards included: Distinguished Edict of the Papal

Apostolic Visitation, certificate of Blessed Patriarch Joseph Slipyj, Honorary Certificate and the

4-th Order cultural-councillor of the UYA, honorary merit of the League for the Liberation of

Ukraine, the Shevchenko Medal of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, medal of the City of

Sudbury and others. On June 8, 1989 His Holiness Pope John-Paul II awarded Kardash with the

Order of St. Gregory the Great, the highest honour awarded by the Roman Catholic Church to

laypersons.

In 1985, Kardash upon the request and with the cooperation of youth, founded the Ukrainian

Youth Ensembles, which consisted of the men’s choir Orion, women’s choir Levada, brass band

Vanguard, along with a Junior Drum Corps and Colour Guard. Youth not only received musical

training, but also cultural, religious and political formation as well. In the summer of 1990, God

led Kardash and the 250 members of the ensembles to his cherished dream – a historic tour of

his beloved native Ukraine. During this trip, the Ensembles received tremendous support from

Bishop Isidore Borecky, who was their spiritual father and mentor. The tour through Ukraine

was unforgettable and triumphant. The Ensembles achieved great successes at concerts,

parades, and liturgies in L’viv, Stryj, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk’, Kolomyja, Kaniv and Kyiv.

Ukrainians from two sides of the world with exhilaration and tears of joy united into one, sang

together, rejoiced and considered this meeting God’s miracle.

Since their inception, the Ukrainian Youth Ensembles have released numerous cassettes and

compact discs, such as: Christmas Carols, The Easter Pontifical Divine Liturgy, The Christmas

Pontifical Divine Liturgy, To the UPA Fighters, Awake Mighty Ukraine, video cassettes At Easter

– Everyone to Hayivku, and 3 video cassettes of the tour through Ukraine.

After hearing of Kardash’s death, the Kyiv newspaper Khreshchatyk (26 III 2003) dedicated

several, full pages to his memory under the heading “Distinguished Ukrainian,” highlighting

his many achievements. After the conductor’s death his wife Larissa compiled many of his

compositions in order to preserve his artistic contributions. Here it is noteworthy to say more

about Mrs. Larissa, who was the conductor’s right hand with respect to his work with the

Ensembles. Khreshchatyk also wrote: “In Canada he became a famous conductor. He found his

destiny there, being married to a pretty student, Larissa Chomenko. They lived together until

his death. They raised a son Adrian and a daughter Virlana. They became grandparents. The

maestro’s wife was his first helper and advisor, taking upon herself many obligations: she

rewrote notes, scores, catalogued the repertoire, correspondences and sent recordings to places

where native word and music were desired. Having a beautiful artistic taste she created the

concert costumes and uniforms. She researched and discovered ancient patterns to decorate

shirts and blouses with original embroidery. She even dug back to the Trypillyan culture, for

sources of embroidery patterns for dresses that are over 5000 years old”.

V. Kardash overcame many obstacles and much suffering in his life, becoming a political activist

and an outspoken critic of social, religious and political injustices. Thanks to the support and

cooperation of sincere Christians and Ukrainian patriots, he used his many talents and faith to

channel good into the souls and hearts of youth. From early on maestro V. Kardash learned to

differentiate God’s wisdom from wisdom of this world, being inspired by St. Paul’s words to the

Corinthians: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God” (1 Cor. 3.19). God endowed

the conductor Kardash not only with many artistic gifts, but he also enriched his intellect with

great knowledge and gave him this to use as a sharp weapon against opponents of God and

Ukraine. As a person of faith, Mr. Kardash had an audience with Metropolitan Andryj Sheptytskyj, who blessed him as a young man on his life-creating artistic and intellectual path with the words: “Child, my son, be kind, pray, study and work, so that you may become the pride of Ukraine and your family!”

On March, 22, 2002, the musician, composer, conductor, mentor of youth, husband, father, and

grandfather, departed for eternity. Ukrainians from all over the world took part in the funeral of

this great person. The Ensembles mournfully sang for him at the funeral services, while the

Vanguard band played funeral hymns and led their conductor on his last journey. The remains

of Vasyl Kardash rest in hospitable Canadian soil at the Ukrainian Cemetery of St. Volodymyr

(Oakville, Ontario, Canada), in the UPA section, beside his father and brother. May their

memory be eternal!

* Adapted from materials by S. Lantuch and The Biographical Directory of the History of Ukrainian Canadians.