Hunter Music and Arts Festival in the Period of Igor Sonevytsky's Organizational Activity (1982-2004)

Abstract

The purpose of the research. The purpose of the article is to characterize the Hunter Music and Art Festival in terms of its content, the importance for the development of Ukrainian culture and the high level of organization of Igor Sonevitsky. The methodology of the research combines the use of analytical and comparative methods of work, which allowed to reveal the originality of the project, its high professional level and the involvement of well-known Ukrainian artists. The scientific novelty of the article is to identify the peculiarities of the festival in terms of analyzing the content of concert events, participation of bright personalities, ensuring a high performing level and various artistic practices in the context of belonging to Ukrainian culture. The research was conducted on the basis of a scrupulous analysis of the materials of I. Sonevitsky's archive: festival programs, seasonal booklets, concert brochures, Voice of America radio scripts, epistolary, and a digitized video of the 1997 concert, which provided convincing evidence of the importance of researching a cultural and artistic project, the professionalism of its participants, the originality of the national position aimed at promoting the Ukrainian heritage and the elevation of cultural life for both the Ukrainian diaspora and the local people. Conclusions. Igor Sonevitsky's organization of the Hunther Music and Arts Festival promoted the active promotion of Ukrainian culture on the territory of the North American continent. Programs of the concert repertoire featured Ukrainian works, and young Ukrainian composers and performers had the opportunity to collaborate with well-known foreign artists. In addition to the Ukrainian diaspora, the diverse ethnic composition of the local population was also given the opportunity to learn about the identity of Ukrainian culture, its ethnic customs and peculiarities. In this way, thanks to Igor Sonevitsky's perfect organizational skills, there was an active integration of national art into a wide expanse of world culture.