The Ukrainian group Veles performed at the Old Theatre in Bolesławiec on Saturday, June 30. The group was accompanied by poet-humorist and vocalist Wiktor Pidgurski and bandura player Oksana Daszewska.
The vocal and instrumental group Veles comes from the town of Rivne. It has existed since 2002. The group consists of three people:
- Jarosław Szewczuk (leader)
- Swietłana Szewczuk (vocalist)
- Leonid Dubczak (musician, vocalist).
In 2007, the group won the All-Ukrainian “Meetings of Friends” Festival. In 2010, it was a finalist in the television project “Chance” on the Inter television channel. The group was invited three times to participate in the UT-1 channel’s television project “FOLK-MUZIK”. In 2013, it received a diploma at the Respublika Festival in Kamianets-Podilskyi.
The audience at the Old Theatre also saw poet-humorist Wiktor Pidgurski, whose stage name is Witul Bim-Barski. He is the author of lyrics for 80 songs and 35 documentary films, including “Kremenets – the City of King Spirit” (1999). He has also directed 95 music videos. In 2013, he released an album of creative songs titled “Rain Overwhelms”. He holds the humorous title “Big CA-BE”, from the Association of Voiceless Performers named after Jokarny Babai.
Oksana Daszewska also performed. She is a bandura player and a graduate of the Pyotr Tchaikovsky Kyiv Music Academy. Oksana is a laureate of the All-Ukrainian Bandura Players’ Competition and the Salomeya Krushelnytska Regional Competition. She also teaches bandura and vocal performance at the Music School in Zbarazh and is a soloist with the school’s folk-instrument orchestra.