Ukrainian musician’s journey to fight Russia with his art brings him to San Antonio

From Texas Public Radio:

The war in Ukraine rages on, and it’s being fought on many fronts. Jurij Fedynskyj has employed the power of music — along with his wife and five children — to fight the war, but with weapons they strum and pluck.

“I grew up in [the] United States, but I lived for 25 years in Ukraine and 15 years in the village of Krachkyvka in the Poltava region,” he said. “It’s about an hour and a half east of Kyiv.”

He grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina. But he didn’t feel part of the community: “I kind of felt like a refugee growing up in Raleigh — and no family, not on my father’s side or my mother’s side. Just us.”

His mother was first generation Ukrainian-American, and her reminiscences piqued his genealogical interest. When he visited Ukraine, he decided to put down roots.

While there, he learned of the ancient Kobzar tradition. Musicians used stringed instruments to create songs and pass on their culture.

“They were, you might call them missionaries, who sermonized through their specific Kobzar repertoire. They accompany with the bandura,” he said. “Usually sacred hymns, songs you’d hear in church maybe, but also the epic songs, the Dumas, as we call them.”

The mournful sounds of the Kobzar tradition largely died at the hands of the Russians about 100 years ago, who viewed purveyors of Ukrainian culture as dangerous to Russian ambitions to dominate the region.

“They were killed for a reason. Maybe they were the doers and the shakers who kept the fire burning underground,” he said.

As Fedynskyj’s musical fascination deepened, he found that nearly no one was still making the traditional stringed instruments, so he learned how. In the process, he gathered students and taught them the Kobzar tradition, and how to play the instruments.

He also met his wife Mariya, and they eventually had five children. Then in 2022, Russia launched its major invasion of Ukraine. Fedynskyj felt a calling.

“We got the cars ready, packed up our gear, all the musical gear and we decided to do constant touring, but farther away from the from the front,” he said.

Kyiv residents went underground to the city’s metro during the Russian bombings. Fedynskyj and his students and friends performed songs that reminded Ukrainians what they were fighting for.

“We had a group, which was a group of four or five of us,” he explained. “We were living in an apartment centrally located, and each day we would go out and give two or more concerts.”

Initially, he moved the family to North Carolina for safety while he went on these tours. Sometimes they would get near the front and play for Ukrainian soldiers who were risking their lives on a daily basis.

The family’s youngest daughter in a shy moment hides behind her mother’s skirt. Jack Morgan / Texas Public Radio

Fedynskyj decided his cultural offerings might also help the Ukrainian cause if he came to Europe and the U.S. to perform.

“This is the third tour during these three years I’ve been to America. Besides America, I’ve been to Europe twice,” Fedynskyj said.

The tours, however, kept him away from his family. So he brought them along for the U.S. tour — and they’re singing with him. The five kids — from a 3-year-old to a 15-year-old — sing and play along with their parents.

“This is really kind of my special mission. Americans understand me. I’m an American. I’m an Eagle Scout. My great, great, great, great grandmother was in American Revolution,” he said.

He knows it’s hard for fans of The Sound of Music to not draw the obvious comparison between his family and the film’s Von Trapps.

But he drew a more substantive connection. “We really do have a very serious resource for Ukrainian defense,” Fedynskyj said. “That’s what I call it, as the Von Trapps were in World War II for Austria.”

He feels Russia’s president is playing a role in how the U.S. views the fight between Ukraine and Russia and how they view each other: “It’s not about Donald Trump. It’s about Putin. It’s called Russian propaganda. They are dividing and conquering America. Do not let it happen. Do not make an enemy of your Democrat or Republican neighbors and friends. That’s what Putin wants. Do not give Putin what he wants.”

The family’s five children. Jack Morgan / Texas Public Radio

He said that for him and his family, the stakes are as high as they could possibly be: “I’m not a Republican or a Democrat. It’s not about politics. It’s about America, and if America falls, Europe falls, Canada falls, Ukraine falls, and Moscow grows exponentially.”

The Fedynskyj family will soon wrap up their U.S. tour and return to Ukraine, hoping that their music — and the messages it contains — will have made a difference.

If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and TPR.org. Thanks for donating today.