A Ukrainian children’s choir, formed in Columbus, will sing of home at benefit concert
Twelve children — most of them Ukrainian refugees whose families resettled in Columbus following Russia’s invasion last year — practiced songs from home in the softly lit sanctuary of First Congregational Church Downtown.
Dasha Tkachenko, a 9-year-old with an uncommonly powerful voice for her small frame, belted out the lyrics to “Oi u luzi chervona kalyna,” or “In the valley red viburnum grows.” Popularized during World War I, the song is about resistance and aspirations for Ukrainian freedom; Russia has banned it in Crimea and other occupied Ukrainian territories.
In front of the stage, choir director Tetiana Matviienko led the young singers, ranging in age from 5 to 13, through the piece with hand gestures, smiles and nods.
Matviienko used to direct children’s choirs in Ukraine, and sang in the choir of the city of Bucha’s St. Andrew’s Church, on whose grounds a mass grave was uncovered after Russian withdrawal in early 2022. She relocated to Ohio two months ago and now directs the Columbus Ukrainian Children’s Choir, which formed last year.
“I'm happy that I can (help) Ukrainian kids to not forget about Ukraine. I think it's very important not to ... lose our roots,” Matviienko told The Dispatch. “Never would I have imagined to say to someone, 'I'm Ukrainian, but where's my country?'”
The choir will perform at a benefit concert for Ukraine on Saturday at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad Street. The Columbus Children’s Choir, a Ukrainian opera ensemble, the Chamber Music Connection of Worthington and others will also perform, with proceeds going to Frontline Medical Ukraine, a nonprofit group dedicated to training and supplying Ukrainian medics. Admission is free, but tickets are required and the organizers encourage donations.
The concert comes at a time of uncertainty in U.S. government support for Ukraine after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and some other Republicans refused to include funding in last month’s stop-gap funding bill. With the House speakership still up in the air as of Thursday morning, financing for Ukraine remains unclear.
“This concert embodies the reason why Ukraine is fighting so fiercely for its right to exist,” said Natalia Lebedin, the Ukrainian Cultural Association of Ohio’s president. “Ukrainian culture and music are so rich, so beautiful, and for centuries, so well-hidden by its oppressor... We are so proud to be able to share this music with Columbus.”
A growing Ukrainian community in Ohio
Although exact numbers are unavailable, thousands of Ukrainians have come to Greater Columbus since early 2022, with many congregating around churches in Galloway and Grove City, according to Yanina Tkachenko, whose daughter is the choir singer Dasha. Many Ukrainians have also resettled in northeast Ohio, where Cleveland and its suburbs like Parma have long-standing ties to Eastern Europe.
Displacement has been a defining feature of life for many in the community.
Natalia Olefir, another choir parent, said her own parents had to flee their home outside the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia after Russians mined their land and the Dnieper dam explosion downriver caused a reservoir where her father once fished to dry up.
Language barriers have led many new Ukrainian arrivals in central Ohio to work in jobs that require little English, such as construction, warehousing or rideshare services, according to Tkachenko. But some with better English skills have secured white-collar jobs — including Tkachenko herself, who arrived in the summer of 2022 and is now a post-doctorate researcher in gene therapy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Tkachenko said Dasha goes to Columbus City Schools, but she hopes that her daughter can soon attend weekend classes at a Ukrainian language school that community members are planning to establish in Columbus. (The Grace Evangelical School in Galloway, attended by many Ukrainian refugee children, also offers instruction in Ukrainian.)
Uncertainty in U.S. support for Ukraine
The U.S. has provided Ukraine with about $113 billion in security, economic and humanitarian aid since February 2022, but Ohio’s representatives in Washington are divided over whether that support should continue.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has supported President Biden's calls for additional aid, but his junior colleague Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, has been skeptical.
“What is our strategy, and what is the president’s exit plan?” Vance wrote in a recent letter to the White House.
Matviienko, the choir director, said U.S. support is essential.
“Ukraine is not fighting just for itself; it's fighting for the whole world. I’m afraid that if the help doesn't come now, then it might be too late later,” she said.
“If someone (does) not stop Russia, Russia never stops,” Tkachenko added.
As choir practice wrapped up, Tkachenko’s daughter Dasha tugged at her mother’s arm to leave, but not before answering a few questions from a reporter.
The 9-year-old has been forced to move twice in the past two years, first from her family's home in Ukraine to Austria, and then from Austria to the U.S.
Dasha said she loves to jazz dance and sing the song “Ukrajina — ce ty,” or “Ukraine is you,” a song by the Ukrainian pop singer Tina Karol that will be featured on Saturday.
She said she was excited, but not nervous, to perform in front of hundreds of people in a few days.
Peter Gill covers immigration, New American communities and religion for the Dispatch in partnership with Report for America. You can support work like his with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America at:bit.ly/3fNsGaZ.
pgill@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ukrainian children’s choir in Columbus to perform at benefit concert
