Leontovych Bandura Chorus

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The Leontovych Bandurist Capella

After a disagreement with the administration of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus, Hryhory Nazarenko together with the Honcharenko brothers left and started working on developing a new bandurist Capella. This new Capella was established in the British zone in Germany in the city of Goslar 1946 and was called the Leontovych Bandurist Capella.

Photo:

The Capella consisted of some 18 members and director Hryhory Nazarenko playing diatonic Kharkiv-style banduras with the newly developed mechanism designed by the Honcharenko brothers. Nazarenko busied himself writing out arrangements and repertoire from the works performed by the Poltava Bandurist Capella teaching Kharkiv-style playing. He coached the choir and taught the bandurists to play the instrument including many of the technical devices developed by Hnat Khotkevych.

Each of the members required instruments and the Honcharenko brothers set up a workshop where they made instruments and taught some of the members to make banduras.

Photo: The workshop of the Leontovych Bandura Capella. Peter Honcharenko standing in the centre.

In the 1930's Nazarenko was the concertmaster of the Poltava and later Combined Bandurist Capella. In this capacity he also was in charge of the music library often writing on the orchestral parts for all the performers. Because of this, Nazarenko was able to restore from his own memory a number of works by Hnat Khotkevych.

After successfully touring Germany with numerous concert some of the members joined up with the Ukrainian Bandurist Capella when they moved to the United States in 1949. Others migrated to England, South America and Australia.