Kurbasy

Tickets cost $22 and $33 (including service charges). They are also available by phone through Hold My Ticket at 505-886-1251.

Kurbasy will be here as part of Center Stage, a public diplomacy initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funding provided by the U.S. Government, administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts in cooperation with the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations. General management is provided by Lisa Booth Management, Inc.

Kurbasy was here in 2018 for a fun residency that included shows at Outpost and Paradiso, our first foreign language folk singing workshop, and a workshop at UNM. We look forward to their return visit!

Kurbasy is an avant-garde musical project of the renowned progressive Les Kurbas Theatre in Lviv, Ukraine. Founded in 2008 as an informal vocal gathering of singer-actresses, the group has performed across Europe—from the front lines of occupied Eastern Ukraine to concert halls in Western Europe and USA. The ambient approach of Kurbasy gives life to the indigenous polyphonic sounds of Ukraine's rich traditional music heritage. Led by vocalists, Kurbasy is now experimenting with the sounds of Ukrainian instruments—traditional dulcimer, winds and percussions together with Tibetan singing bowls, violin and double bass. The theatrical background of the group is a core component of Kurbasy's aesthetic. The music they perform is tied to, celebrates, and renews the rituals and the lived memories of Ukraine and her people.

Songs of the Ukrainian Forest was conceived by Kurbasy's founders and friends of 24 years, actor-vocalists Natalia Rybka-Parkhomenko and Maria Oneschak, in a time of pandemic lockdown and then national invasion. The 14-song cycle draws on the repertoires of the Eastern, Central and Western Regions of Ukraine. "We want to affirm our loud and clear freedom, our love for our country and for our people," said Maria. "We want to show our independence and strength," Natalia adds.