Kupalo in the Park 2015

Well the amazing people at St. John's Institute in Edmonton are doing it again!  Another fantastic community growing event to embrace and welcome friends of the Ukrainian idea!

This event is called Kupalo in the Park - and will take place on Monday, July 6, 2015 at Emily Murphy Park in Edmonton.  A beautiful and ancient holiday, Ivana Kupala welcomes the change of the seasons at a summer solstice festival that coincides with the traditional religious holiday of St. John.  Dedicated to the ancient powers of water and fire, it celebrates capturing the powers that led to civilized life. Intriguing and ancient, and woven into the religious cycle over millennia, it has always held a powerful place in Ukrainian cultural life.  So extremely pleased that St. John's Institute is hosting the 2015 Ukrainian Summer Family Tradition - Ivana Kupala.  Admission is free.  

St. John's Institute Fundraising Gala 2015

YEG is so blessed with St. John's Institute.  SJI is a wonderful non profit affordable housing option, in a desirable location near the University of Alberta  - with a reputation for exceptional food and welcome hosting of arts and cultural events. Visit SJI at http://www.stjohnsinstitute.com/

The amazing work of community building across many generations continues at St. John's Institute Edmonton. While I have been there for (compliments to the kitchen!) pyrogy supper, and my daughter did spent more than one summer living at SJI during her studies, just a few blocks from the U of A, I can't believe my misfortune (misjudgement of schedule!) of missing the recently sponsored concerts by my favorite Ukrainian musicians, Піккардійська Терція, в Едмонтоні! And all the extras I have mentioned don't even come close to recognizing the many decades of Ukrainian student life that has been fostered at SJ!. 

Folks, it's official! If you like what the SJI people do, and want to support their upcoming projects, you will be in good company to join them on Saturday Feb 7 at the "Show Me the Money" Fundraising Gala! on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at the Palace, 3223 Parsons Road (99 Street) Edmonton. 

I understand Suzanna and the board have arranged for live performances by Mercury Opera, Viter Ukrainian Dancers & Folk Choir, and Toy Guns Dance Theatre. That is, after the highly social cocktails, delicious dinner and amazing dance social by Steppe.

Contact SJI at , 780-439-2320, arts_culture@stjohnsinstitute.com for tickets!!

Stephania's CD Release Event - March 2

Fans of great Ukrainian Estradna Musika will be thrilled to hear that Stephania Romaniuk is performing again - and releasing a great new recording of the songs of Bohdan Wesolowsky (among others). Joined by top jazz musicians from Calgary, her premier recording of all-new arrangements of Ukrainian retro-pop songs from the 30-50's will definitely redefine Ukrainian Cabaret! Imagine swing, latin jazz, rhumba, tango, bolero, and the wonderful vocal stylings of Stephania - wow!

The Ukrainian diaspora community really makes things happen - thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, and with financial support from a variety of foundations including the Taras Shevchenko Foundation, Бували дні, By-Gone Days will be a special addition to your listening favorites.

You can enjoy Stephania performing songs from her debut album on Sunday, March 2, 2014 at St. John's Institute (11024 82 Ave NW, Edmonton). For more information you can call (780) 439-2320. Make sure to get tickets soon - here is some contact information. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1686146502/by-gone-days-ukrainian-jazz
www.stephaniaromaniuk.com

Great news! Stephania's song "Summer" will be featured on the Shevchenko Foundation's 50th Anniversary Commemorative Album!

ZABAVA on Whyte Avenue (Edmonton)

For three days of epic arts and culture, the only feature celebration site in Edmonton during the 2013 Alberta Culture Days will happening at St. John's Institute on Whyte Avenue (near the University of Alberta). All events are free, all fun, and full of cultural richness - all you need to do is arrive in a Ukrainian blouse or shirt! Come out to support the community's Ukrainian artists, performing and visual. Industrious volunteers could help with the pyrogy pinching party, or help out in other ways.

Just make sure to be there for the Saturday night zabava right on Whyte Avenue - the street will closed! And Trembita Ukrainian Band wants you there for the fun!

Ukie Summer School 2014!

Polovetsian warrior, Kyivan Rus' era,
Feodosia Museum, Ukraine
amk2013

Looking for a hero?  Looking for opportunities to dream, rise to a new plateau of understanding, and aspire to the heights of human experience?  LOOK NO FURTHER!

The creative legacy of  OSVITA, the exceptional summer Ukrainian language and cultural immersion program may be for you! http://www.stjohnsinstitute.com/about-us/programs/osvita/

OSVITA, the exceptional Ukrainian summer school program designed for deep, enriching experiences in inter-cultural understanding, is a superlative way to engage with learning. Immersion activities embedded in the rhythms of folk life, the language, culture, cuisine are but a glimpse into the collective memory, the ancestral ways. And the trajectory of Ukrainian life with its European and global presence is changing by the minute.   With at least 1.3 million Canadians of Ukrainian ancestry, and at least 20 million in the Ukrainian diaspora, and on every continent, each holds the heroes of their ancestry dear. Real people aspiring to overcome challenges in their personal lives, we all marvel at the wisdom and resilience of the ancestral stories.  Change and adaptation are everywhere, but it is clear that promoting pluri-lingualism from within our Ukrainian community is a fabulous way to shape the world, to contribute to world peace.

Innovation and optimism are the by-words for the OSVITA program which has been connecting people and communities for decades.  Building kindred relationships from Buenos Aires, Brazil, Berlin, London, Istanbul, and Chicago, and of course places like Myrnam, Alberta - OSVITA makes Ukrainian relevant in an international way.  Self-aware, optimistic, forward thinking, and incredibly able to enrich young lives with deep and comprehensive ties with the land of their ancestry, OSVITA should be on your young person's summer plan!

Check it out here at http://www.osvitaprogram.com/
ps-my daughter went twice and still talks about her amazing experiences at OSVITA!

Bar-v-nok Summer Camp 2013

Maybe it's the warm weather, or the fragrance of trees in bud, but it seems like summer already!!  Grass is greening, tulips are peeking over the mulch, and a day ago I saw a little blue robin's egg - surely it is finally here!

Parents love having the children home from school for the summer holidays!  After the rush of school and extracurricular activities it is a time to reconnect at a slower pace.  The lazy days of summer!

It's time to think about summer camps again.   Time to plan for the children to have an experience of a lifetime!  I know the summer camp experience enriched my life!  In fact, everyone I have ever spoken to about camp has nothing but fun times to exclaim about!  Some of us made life long friends through camping experiences, too!

So how to get the best of summer vacation for the children, a learning experience in growing up, and a well deserved parent-time too?  Planning for a relaxed, enjoyable summer camp in an atmosphere enriched with Ukrainian activities and companionship?  Perhaps you should check out Camp Bar-V-Nok!

Located on Pigeon Lake, Alberta, Camp Bar-V-Nok is well equiped for great times on the water, court sports, hikes, campfire and forest activities as well as nature crafts,  and a fabulous deck and eating hall. Bar-v-nok has a reputation for quality programming and excellent supervision, a wonderful combination!

Maybe I am repeating myself, but when is summer camp for adults? 

Osvita Ukrainian Summer School 2013

Incredible opportunities abound for learning and travel this summer - for students and grownups!  Once again, Osvita's exciting Ukrainian Summer Immersion Program is offering high school Ukrainian language credit, and a trip to Ukraine for a fascinating, first hand experience in the culture, traditions, and to visit historic sites.  A totally fabulous experience awaits - make sure to contact the numbers listed below.   

Choral Conductor's Seminar - Edmonton August 10-18,2013

Spiritus Chamber Choir performed
at the Egllise du Sacre Coeur
in Dijon - acfea.com

I am so excited about another summer full of music! Touring France singing as a member of a chamber choir was great,

but now it's about conducting too! It's going to be another summer gloriously filled with music making! Thanks to the great forethought of the Ukrainian Music Society of Alberta, Edmonton will again play host to another invaluable training program for choral conductors. Forty years of care for the Ukrainian music tradition in Canada has been a great service to the Canadian and Ukrainian choral experience, not to mention the numerous other music genres the society has promoted over the years.


Have to put August 10-18, 2013 on the calendar - those are the dates for this Ukrainian Choral Conductors' Seminar. Seminar work on vocal technique, conducting techniques, cantoring, score analysis, text delivery and diction, secrets of running a rehearsal efficiently, history of Ukrainian choral music, conducting church choirs will be great fun! Canadian and Ukrainian specialists will instruct, among them Prof. Mstyslav Yurchenko, of Kyiv, a specialist in liturgical tradition, (especially of Maksym Berezovsky), and Canadian Maestro Laurence Ewashko of Ottawa. Because Canada has a wealth of talented practitioners the program is certain to draw attention of the experienced and novice to the event. Church and community choir repertoire will be studied, and a seminar choir of local volunteer talent will be engaged.

The venue for this workshop is the ideally located St. John's Institute, Edmonton, just blocks from the University of Alberta and its Fine Arts Building and Music Faculty.

You may not know, but Ukraine's musical tradition is unique in its span of history, cultural, religious, and political perspectives. Many of the artistic treasures are relatively new to Western audiences, with a refreshing sound reflecting musical, linguistic and cultural trends of a truly Ukrainian nature. The new stuff is amazing too!

Thanks to Luba Boyko-Bell for sharing this - call her at 780-469-4890 or at luba.bell@shaw.ca for more information.

Blood and Salt

The people who experienced the Castle Mountain Internment Camp near Banff, Alberta are part of Canada's history. So many peoples lives were affected by the experience! Loss of finances, loss of freedom, loss of a sense of belonging, loss of a sense of Canada's welcome, all these and more. Throughout the experience however, the internees were essentially pawns in a grand story of war, and political alliances. They were interned, not for anything they had control over. They were "enemy aliens", not quite Canadian citizens yet, and paper-tied to the Austrian empire that would enter Europe in a blood bath once called The Great War.

Some of them continued to dream.  

A new work of fiction, grounded in the real-life of the Castle Mountain Internment Camp in the Canadian Rockies is about those choices - asking questions about life, life and ethnicity.

Barbara Sapergia's new novel, Blood and Salt, is being featured at its Edmonton launch on Friday, February 8, 2013 at 8 PM. The Ukrainian Pioneers Association of Alberta, Alberta Society for the Advancement of Ukrainian Studies, and venue host St. John's Institute are pleased to welcome guests to this free book reading, book signing, to meet the author and stay for the reception. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
http://www.barbarasapergia.com/

Friday, February 8, 2013 at 8PM
St. John's Institute First Floor Gallery/Classroom
11024-82 Avenue, Edmonton

For more information and/or a special event parking pass for the area, please contact info@stjohnsinstitute.com. or www.stjohnsinstitute.com
780-439-2320 or 780-809-3771 or 780-952-1311

Thanks to Suzanna Brytan, Executive Director of St. John's Institute for the update information.
suzannab@stjohnsinstitute.com

Prairie Dreamscapes: Reimagining Your Roots

The Alberta Council for the Arts are very please to invite guests to a new exhibit this December. From December 7, 2012 to January 19, 2013, a special show entitled Prairie Dreamscapes:  Reimaginging Your Roots can be viewed at St. John's Institute in Edmonton.

Featuring Ukrainian Canadian and Ukrainian artists of several disciplines, the exhibit premiered in September at the Ukrainian Festival in Toronto - there were rave reviews.  The dreamscape concept is coming to the prairies, to its roots!

St. John's Institute on Whyte Avenue near the University of Alberta is a welcoming university residence that has a great Ukrainian Canadian heritage.  Founded originally as a Bursa, a bursary residence, under the name Hrushevsky Institute, the residence is a wonderful community!  Over the years many generations have attended St. John's Institute and built great relationships - life long friends.  It is time for your visit!

St. John's Institute are glad to welcome new thoughts, dreams and visions - and a providing a warm, generous and hospitable welcome for this beautiful art exhibit entitled Prairie Dreamscapes:  Reimaginging Your Roots.

As the poster indicates, there will be wine and refreshments for the opening night ceremonies - hope you can join the Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts and join the community for this lovely art exhibit!!

Mosaic Arts

If you have visited St. John's Institute in Edmonton lately, you will have noticed that besides the interior renovations ( which are just wonderful) , they have also addressed the exterior remodeling too.  In fact, they have added an artistic element to the exterior wall at the entranceway - a beautiful mosaic specially created by the lovely Theodora Harasymiw who is offering this workshop!
What a wonderful opportunity!!  See you there!!

Osvita Ukrainian Summer Immersion Program

Baba's Kitchen at Osvita 2012
recognize the Calgarian?

Calgary has a lovely Ridna Shkola program that includes history, culture and language, even Ukrainian 10, 20 and 30.  But at the time when my daughter was in Ridna Shkola, to finish her high school credits she needed to go to Edmonton for the Osvita Summer Immersion Program.  Without reservation, it was a good choice.  She met new friends, discovered a few things about living away from home, accomplished some academic learning and generally had a great time.  Many of the friends have become what she calls "forever friends".  It's like having Ukrainian friends puts them into a special category - beyond going for coffee, or seeing a movie together, it's a part of your extended family.

You may not know about St. John's Institute in Edmonton but it is a great Canadian success story that should be shared!  Way back in 1918, St. John’s Institute was organized under the name M. Hrushewsky Ukrainian Institute (named after a great Ukrainian historian, writer, and statesman, Mykhailo Hrushwsky-1886-1934). An autonomous institution with its own character, St. John's Institute is affiliated with the Ukrainian Self-Reliance League of Canada known as S.U.S. Almost a hundred years later, it has lived up to community expectations and is a leading Orthodox Christian and Ukrainian-oriented residential centre fostering youth and their development.

St. John's Institute has continued the great SUS traditions and produces wonderful educational, spiritual, cultural, and outreach programs while operating a student residential centre for the Canadian and Ukrainian community.

One of the Institute's prize programs, Osvita,  had another successful program this summer 2012 in Edmonton.  From the pictures it is obvious the participants enjoyed learning in such a supportive environment.  The newly renovated St. John's Institute is simply top class, but the old Institute vibe is still there, warm hearted and embracing, a family away from home, your Ukrainian family away from home! 

Osvita 2012 participants from BC to Ontario improved their fluency in Ukrainian, cooking, dancing, singing, bandura lessons (with Andrij Hornjatkevyc) and more! Special events included fieldtrips to the Edmonton Holodomor Monument, the Vegreville Ukrainian Pysanka Festival, Alberta Branch of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Castle Mountain Internment Camp and Banff. Guest speakers included the former Premier Ed Stelmach, and Ukrainian radio announcer Roman Brytan.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone at Osvita - see you all next year at Osvita 2013!!