Combined Bandurist Capella

The Combined Kiev Bandurist Capella, also known as the Ukrainian State Exemplary Bandurist Capella, was a Ukrainian bandurist ensemble in the Soviet Union which existed from 1935 to 1941, until it was disbanded due to World War II.

A few months after the liquidation of all of the professional bandurist capellas in October 1934, a reversal of policy took place.

A call came from Moscow for performing ensembles from Ukraine to perform at the Decade of Ukrainian Culture in Moscow. It was decided in February 1935 to form a new group established by combining the musicians of the former Kiev Bandurist Capella, the Poltava Bandurist Capella and the Bandurist Capella of the Kiev Philharmonia.

The artistic director for this new larger bandurist capella was Mykola Mykhailov, the former director of the Kiev capella. His assistant was Danylo Pika, the former director of the Poltava Bandurist Capella. In March, the capella received a new title: "The Ukrainian State Exemplary Bandurist Capella".

Members included:

From the Poltava Capella:

From the Kiev Philharmonia Bandurist Capella:

Members from other bandura groups included:

The director of the new group was Zakhariy Aronsky, Administrator: I Nedolia.

In 1936 the Combined Capella performed in Moscow at the Decade of Ukrainian Culture in Moscow and recorded a number of disks there.

Mykhailov, however, died in 1937 during a tour of the Caucasus, in Tashkent. His death from angina was thought to have been suspicious.

In 1937 the group was made up of 24 members. By 1938, the group had grown to 44 artists.

In 1939, the ensemble was sent on a tour of Western Ukraine with a Ukrainian nationalistic program commemorating the 125th anniversary of Taras Shevchenko. The program was known as Slovo Tarasa. It included songs which had previously been banned by the Soviet censors and was specifically geared to entice the Western Ukrainian population to embrace the Soviet administration. The program however was not allowed to be performed in the areas that were previously formally part of the Soviet Union.

In 1941, the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union came when the Kiev Bandurist Capella was performing for the miners in Kryviy Rih. They returned through the chaos to Kiev where, on July 8, 1941, the chorus was disbanded and most of its members were mobilized. Within days some of the members, such as Danylo Pika and Mykola Opryshko, were killed on the front. It is interesting to note that Russian ensembles did not suffer the same fate. They remained intact to perform in front of the Soviet troops.

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