Stankovych, Yevhen

Stankovych, Yevhen [Станкович, Євген; Stankovyč, Jevhen], b 19 September 1942 in Svaliava, Berehove county, Transcarpathia. Composer. He studied at the Lviv Conservatory under Adam Soltys before transferring to the Kyiv Conservatory where he studied under Borys Liatoshynsky and Myroslav Skoryk and graduated in composition in 1970. He worked as an editor at the Muzychna Ukraina publishing house in 1970–6. He was awarded the Shevchenko Prize in 1977. He has worked as professor at the Kyiv Conservatory (now National Music Academy of Ukraine) since 1988. He has been a full member of the National Ukrainian Academy of Arts since 1997. In 2004–10 he was co-head (with Myroslav Skoryk) of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine.

One of the most prolific contemporary Ukrainian composers, Stankovych has written six symphonies and several symphonic works, including Overture, Fantasia, two sinfoniettas, and a symphonic poem dedicated to Stepan Turchak; three violin concertos as well as concertos for violoncello and orchestra, viola and orchestra, and flute and orchestra; eight symphonies for chamber orchestra. He has composed the triptych In the Highlands for violin and pianoforte, three sonatas for violoncello and piano, a string quartet, and numerous other works of chamber music. Deeply inspired by Ukrainian musical folklore, in the 1960s Stankovych belonged to a group of composers known as ‘the Neofolkloric Wave.’ His neofolkloric idiom found its most eloquent expression in his folk opera Tsvit paporoti (The Flower, Fern, 1980). He has also composed the ballets Ol'ha (1982), Iskra (The Spark, 1983), and Prometheus (1986), the requiem Babyn Yar (1991), and Slovo o polku Ihorevim for soloists, choir and symphony orchestra; pieces for solo voice and for choir; church music; and film scores.

Marko Robert Stech

[This article was updated in 2016.]