Verovka, Hryhorii

Verovka, Hryhorii [Верьовка, Григорій; Ver'ovka, Hryhorij], b 25 December 1895 in Berezna, Chernihiv county, Chernihiv gubernia, d 21 October 1964 in Kyiv. Composer, conductor, and pedagogue; husband of Eleonora Skrypchynska. He began his musical studies at the Chernihiv theological seminary, learned composition theory from Boleslav Yavorsky (1918–21), and graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory (1933). He taught at the Lysenko Music and Drama Institute (1923–7) and the Kyiv Conservatory (1931–64). Verovka achieved his renown as artistic director and principal conductor of the Ukrainian State Choir (later Verovka National Chorus), from 1943 until his death. In 1948–52 he also headed the Union of Composers of Ukraine. His works include the cantatas Tam na hori za Dniprom (There on the Hill beyond the Dnipro, 1924), To ne viter (It Is Not the Wind, 1941), and Ne spochyvaite (Do Not Rest, 1956); chamber music; pieces for folk musical instruments orchestra; choral works; art songs; and arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]