On Sunday, August 22, 2021, a concert to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence with the participation of the Ukrainian diaspora called “Ukrainian Day” took place in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The concert was traditionally hosted by singer Maria Cherepenko. The audience, many of whom were wearing embroidered shirts and carrying blue and yellow flags, actively greeted her when she announced the start of the concert and gave the floor to the clergy of Ukrainian churches, who called for prayers for the fate of Ukraine. The park’s orchestra then played the Ukrainian anthem and the U.S. anthem, and everyone in attendance honored this by standing up. After that, a big concert began, which lasted about 2 hours and was very much enjoyed by the audience. Here is a list of the concert performances and their performers:
– The “Golden Poppies” dance group performed several dance sketches on Ukrainian themes;
– The performance of Ukrainian melodies by a trio of bandura players led by Olga Gerasymenko was touching;
-Lesya Zabashta sang a song by Platon Maiboroda with lyrics by Andriy Malyshko, “We will go where the grasses are sloping.”
– a children’s dance ensemble surprised the audience with an incendiary dance;
– Ms. Svetlana Nikitenko, a singer of the San Francisco Opera House, performed her aria in a wonderful and professional manner;
– Ms. Anna Zinchenko, a representative of the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco, congratulated all those present on the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence;
– the Park’s Symphony Orchestra entertained the audience with the performance of the song “My Country”;
– mezzo-soprano singer Maria Cherepenko (who also hosted the concert), who performed the song “My Kyiv” with lyrics by D. Lutsenko and music by I. Shamo, transported us to distant Kyiv;
– The Sacramento choir “Kolyada” under the direction of Mr. Andriy Kryshtafovych sang the song “Ukraine will live forever”;
– the audience applauded the performance of opera arias and Ukrainian songs by the famous singer Ivanna Taratula-Filipenko;
– The incendiary music of the Burima ensemble left no one indifferent, and the song “Chervona Ruta” was sung by all those present;
– singer Anichka performed the song “My Ukraine”, and then the children sang a song about the Ukrainian language with her;
– two dance ensembles “Golden Poppies” and ‘Rainbow’ caused a flurry of emotions when they danced the Ukrainian dance “Hopak”;
– Finally, the Kolyada choir sang the Ukrainian national anthem together with the audience;
– Maria Cherepenko thanked all the participants of the concert, the orchestra for their wonderful performances, and all the audience for their attention.
The concert was over, but the audience did not want to leave for a long time, wanting to delay the time of parting with Ukrainian art.
(Myroslav Grekh)
