Halyna Ovcharenko

Dr. Halyna Ovcharenko is an SPNM-shortlisted composer.[1] Born in Luhansk in Ukraine,[2] Halyna Ovcharenko was given a scholarship at the age of eleven to the Musical College of the Kiev State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, a specialist school for talented children. Whilst at the Conservatory, she studied composition with Yurii Ishchenko unil 1987.[3] After graduating in Music from the Conservatory, she continued her study of composition in Warsaw. She subsequently taught composition and music theory at the Kiev State Conservatory and the Sumy Pedagogical Institute, also giving master classes in composition and authentic voice performance in Poland and Serbia.

Halyna Ovcharenko is the director of the folk music ensemble Malva and is a member of the Union of Ukrainian Composers. In 1996 she was given the Overseas Research Scholarship to study for a Ph.D. in composition at University of Bath. Amongst her works are pieces for solo piano, piano and voice, percussion, chamber orchestra, choir and symphony orchestra. Her work, The Sun Scorched Mallow for choir, orchestra, soloists and reciter was awarded first prize in the Marian and Ivanna Kotz competition in 1992. In 1995 she was the winner of the International Women Composers' Competition in Ukraine with her work Everlasting for chamber orchestra and ensemble of authentic voices.

Amongst her works are pieces for solo instruments, ensembles, choirs, chamber and symphony orchestras, music for theatre and documentary film. She has written two ballets, one of them, The Last Battle, (after C.S. Lewis) was successfully performed by the LCB at the Peacock Theatre and Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. The other, Kupala's Night, was selected by the ISCM and was performed by the Ljubljana National Opera and Ballet Theatre.

She won international competitions in 1992 and 1995. In 1992, she received the National Leontovych Prize. Recently she has received awards from The Bliss Trust, the Arts Council England and the PRS Foundation. Her composition Invocation of Rain for four percussionists and authentic voice was performed at the festival in Bucharest in 2004 and at the ISCM World Music Days in Zagreb in 2005. What the Shaman Saw was performed at the Festival in Bucharest in June 2005. String Quartet was performed by the Voller String Quartet in Bristol in May. Halyna has been offered a Grant to work at the Visby Studio in September 2005. In December 2014, she was one of three composers to have a work performed by the State Radio and Television Orchestra under the direction of Ukrainian conductor Volodymyr Sirenko.[4]

Halyna has taught composition and music theory at Kiev State Conservatory and the Sumy Pedagogical Institute, and has also given masterclasses in composition and authentic voice performance in Poland and Serbia.

  1. ^ "Highly Commended Works - SPNM Shortlist". www.spnm.org.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-11. Halyna Ovcharenko - String Quartet.
  2. ^ "Ovcharenko, Halyna". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.45608. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
  3. ^ Berehova, Olena (2022-09-12). "УКРАЇНСЬКІ ЖІНКИ-КОМПОЗИТОРКИ ВЕЛИКОЇ БРИТАНІЇ В ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОМУ КУЛЬТУРНОМУ ДІАЛОЗІ" [Music history in Central and Eastern Europe Announcements from the international Working group at the University of Leipzig]. Музикознавча думка Дніпропетровщини (in Ukrainian) (22): 36. doi:10.33287/222224. ISSN 2522-9168. The next stage in the formation of Ovcharenko's musical professionalism was her studies at the Kyiv State Conservatory, composition class of Professor Yurii Ishchenko, which she successfully completed in 1987.
  4. ^ Onyshkevych, Larissa M. L. Zaleska; Rewakowicz, Maria G. (2014-12-18). Contemporary Ukraine on the Cultural Map of Europe. Routledge. p. 441. ISBN 978-1-317-47378-7. The following evening, the State Radio and Television Orchestra under the direction of Volodymyr Sirenko performed the remaining three compositions by Halyna Ovcharenko, Gennady Liashenko, and Zbigniew Baginski (Poland).