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WELCOME! I n t r odudin g * Miss Mildred Mil- anowich the new staff correspon dent of "Our Liife,” we bid ’her a hearty welcome. Miss Milanowich is not a new comer in .the field of journalism, having contributed in recent years, - many interesting articles to the “Ukrainian Weekly.” She is also known for her work, as an interpreter and promoter of Ukrainian Folk Art Exhibits. Her most recent arrangement of the Ukrainian booth at the Madison Square Garden Exhibit in New York City, Avon her praise for the most airtistic booth at the Ex hibit. Miss, Mila no. wich. is most anxi ous to hear from our young wo- men, w’ho desire .to-write articles, or to contribute in some way to the furtherance of Ukrainian cul ture and education. Please - no te the add r es s : 151 Hopkins Ave., Jersey City 6, N. J., and .write to.; her a.t your .earli est opportunity. Headquarters of Ukrainian National Women’s League of America, Inc. “UKRAINAN WEDDING” Recently I attended a stage version of a Ukrainian Wedding which wras sponsored by the Ukr rainian Women’s Democratic Club of Jersey City. The per formance wis under the direction of Mrs. Anna Bodak of Brooklyn, N. Y., who also played the role of mother. The cast was compos ed of an all-amateur group and in spite of this fact they put on a fine show. My parents often described the affairs and weddings they knew in their country, but never did I realize how different and how much there was to it. There was always much singing, dancing and merry-making in general, with the folks more carefree, probably because of the simple life that they led. They seemed to get all their joy out of attend ing these affairs, which are quite different from the weddings ‘we know in this country. .All the customs-they knew and- carried out had,some significance. Usually the folks would start preparing a week in advance for ’ Ше wedding^which would probab- lyiarst;a whole week. Many little -things that I did not know about, I saw during this performance, which was very realistic for I saw a few women shed some tears. It pr^efeably^ brought back memories of the days they once knew. This- show was a treat to see, not onlly for a person like me — born in America, but also for the old timers. It acquainted me with some of the customs my folks know and at the same time it brought back beautiful memories to the fdlks who came from the other side. Katherine Klapko Wagner. NEWS AND NOTES Polynack to sing at Shamokin Miss Mary Polynack is to sing o.n March .11th at Shamokin, Pa;; and will include in her program compositions by Handel, an aria from “La Traviata,” the Czardas from Die Fledermaus and a se ries of English and Ukrainian songs, the latter by Hayvoron- $ sfky. ' Sheptitsky Memorial Concert in New York Olga Pavlova Miss Olga Pavlova, soprano from Winnepeg, Canada, who has appeared as a star of the Cana dian Network and of WBZ in ’Boston, will be soloist at a con cert in memory of Metropolitan Sheptitsky, sponsored *by the Basilian Fathers of New York’s St. George Parish. The concert to be given on March 25th, at Webster Halil, will have Ponna Grescoe, young prodigy, who is also from Canada and is now studying with Piastro, as violin soloist. Choir selections at this concert will be sung by the large St. George’s Choir, which, under the leadership of Prof. Theodore Onufiryk, is w'dllnknown for its fine discipline and harmony. Al though very much saddened by the loss of over 35 boys of his choir to the Armed Forces, the most recent one being his bass soloisft, Mr. Onufryk has trained an entirely new group of young boys to continue to uphold the fine tradition of the choir by memorizing their parts for -con cert appearances. This enables -their leader to bring out the deli cate nuances of a selection and makes listening to them a treat. Mrs. A. Kodak’s Hobby Gain* New Followers Interest among young «New IN TOWN HALL SUCCESS (By Mildred Milanowicz) February 10th witnessed an other success, this time at Town Hall, in the second New York recital of Olga Lepkova, Ukrain ian mezzio-soprano. Showing individualism in the arrangement of her program, Miss Lejkova included in her re-4 cital, songs and arias from the compositions of Stradeilla, Pon- chieMi, Verdi, Mozart, Schubert, R. Strauss, Paderewski, Tschai- kowsky, Malotte, Hageman, Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, Наутогоп- sky, Rudnitsky, Bohuslawsiky, Kolessa and Chysh'ko, all sung in the original language of their composition. # Her firsit recital at Times Hall had aroused the interest and ad miration of critical New York music lovers enough to assure the artisit a well-fifliled audience at the Town Hall appearance. Still remembering the stream of congratulatory well-wishers that kept filing (past Miss Lepko va at the conclusion of her first concert, 'her many friends were pleased to see the circle aug mented this year «by many -not ables of the music world and of society. iRememlberinjg too, the ’■charming picture she made at the last concert, the present audience appreciatively applauded their ; second sight of the singer. Poised and sophisticated, Miss Lepkova appeared in a slim-sheathed gown of her own creation. Of white lame, low-necked, long-sleeved and slit at the hem, ithe utter simplicity of the gown was high lighted by touches of aqua in the flower ait the waist and in the jeweled nedklace and earrings. We watched with glowing pride, as Miss Lepkova ad/vanced with quiet dignity to the center of the sitage, nod to Frank Chatterton, her aocompanist and begin sing ing the aria “Pieta, Signore,” by Stradella. We Ukrainians have developed a sincere admirations and affec tion for this charming represen tative of our people, who in six short years since her coming to this country, has succeeded in braving the difficulties of gaining, musical recognition. Competing in a field occupied .almost exclu sively by sopranos, this mezzo- Yorkers attending the recent Ukrainian Exhibit at Madison * Square Garden, in the art of dec orating Ukrainian Easter eggs was very lively. It prompted Miss Luba Kowalska to plan an eve ning of instruction in this art', to keep alive the lovely Ukrainian custom. Invitations have already been issued for this evening to be in mid-March. Daughter of Rev. O. Kowalsky of Ramey, Pa., Miss Kowalska is at present stu dying at the Juilliiard School of Мизіс. voiced artist has won praise from the most exacting critics. One critic of the Ne>w York Times, praised Miss Lepkova’s Town Hall performance as showing her “inherent musicianship and re finement.” Her voice he acknow ledged to be “a fine; natural one Oif puire, sweet quality through it’s ample range.” “It is essentiaillly lyric” he went on, “and was most successfully employed in songs like Paderew ski’s ‘Tears' or Tschaikowsky’s ‘Be Silent, My Beloved.* In mif- sic of this introspective 'type, Miss Lepkova proved particular ly expreissive.* There was fine' promise in this singing, despite any shortcomings, not only ber cause of the lovely timbre of the voice, but also because of the musical feeling and sensitiveness with which it was projected.” Unstinted and prolonged ap plause. mairked the end of each portion of Miss Lepkova’s pro gram and the close of the con* cent found the artist .complying again and again to the demands of the audience for more encores. It was on the curtained stage, now transformed into a flowerng bow^r by the offerings of her friends and admirers* that the ar tist received the congratulations of the long line of old and newly- made friends. In the lbw hum of the pleasantly mililing crowd, there could be defected conver sations jn Ukrainian, German, Russian, Polish, English and Ita lian. Here it was too, that many of the attending young -Ukrain ian singers swamped Miss Lep kova with questions concerning her Ukrainian songs, many of them expressing their belief, that this group of .songs would receive special praise from /the critics. These young singers were keenly disappointed, when no mention of the songs was made by the crit ics. Mostly for their sake and for the sake of many readers of the criticisms, we decided to learn Miss Lepkova’s views on this matter. She has been gaining a reputation as a staunch frieind of Ukrainian youth and certainly upheld it in the interview she -granted exclusively to “Our “’Life.” Miss Lepkova received us gra ciously in her lovely home on Central Park West, a few days after her concert. The modern decor of her home seems to suit her» personality and^the color- scheme of fuchsia, chart refuse and biege complementing the b 1 e a c h e diinahogony furniture furnishes a lovely setting for the fair-haired artisit. Quickly she made us feel at home and flatter ed .us by asking our opinions on her recital. The talk turned to the Ukrain ian songs. Yes, Miss 1>фкоуа ' personally felt, as the audience did, that she did exceedingly well with her Ukrainian songs. They possessed full musical worth, had {Gontimied o il Page 8)
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