BOHDAN PIURKO – REPRESENTATIVE OF THE “PRAGUE SCHOOL”: CREATIVE AND PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITY IN GALICIA AND THE DIASPORA

Abstract

The article deals with the life and creative path of Bohdan Piurko – a conductor, a pianist, a teacher, a cul­tural public figure, a representative of the “Prague School”. It investigates the years of study at the elementary school in Nemyriv and Sambir Gymnasiums. Particular attention is paid to the period his study at Mykola Lysenko Higher Music Institute of Lviv and the cultural and musical environment of Lviv, in which the future maestro was formed.

The years of professional studies at the Prague Conservatory (1927–1930) and his first job at the Kyiv Opera House (1930–1931) are researched as well. The focus is on Piurko’s creative development as a pianist, concertmaster, teacher, director of the Drohobych Department of Mykola Lysenko Institute, a choral conductor and organizer of musical life in the Drohobych area.

Particular attention is paid to the choir “Drohobytskyi Boyan” and its concert activity under the direction of Bohdan Piurko. The fact has been established that under the direction of Bohdan Piurko the mixed choir “Drohobytskyi Boyan” participated in the First Regional Competition of Galicia Choirs on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Mykola Lysenko’s birthday and took first place there. The period of B. Piurko’s activity as a conductor of the Ivan Franko Ukrainian Pre-Carpathian Theater in Drohobych during the German occu­pation (1942–1944) is analyzed.

The attention is drawn to Piurko’s cultural and artistic life among the Ukrainian diaspora in the DiPi camps and the organization of the Ukrainian Opera Ensemble (Germany, Karsfeld, 1944–1949). For the first time, information about the concert activity of UOE soloists under his guidance in the USA has been made public. The program of the first concert of works by Ukrainian composers on the American continent performed by Detroit Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bohdan Piurko (Detroit, February 1, 1953) was found.

The article elucidates his contribution to the formation of professional musical art in Galicia (Drohoby­chyna, 1932–1944), as well as creative activity among the Ukrainian diaspora in Germany and the USA in the post-war period.