TWENTY YEARS OF DEVOTION TO ART: THE HISTORY OF THE GIRLS’ CHOIR “LIRA” AT IVAN FRANKO LVIV NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

In this article, we will discuss the eStablishment and 20 years of accomplishments of one of the moSt accomplished amateur Student ensembles of Ivan Franko Lviv National University, national women youth choir Lira. This is the firSt complete account of the activities and accomplishments of the ensemble, famed in not only Ukraine but the reSt of the continent. Lira was firSt founded in 1999 as a choir of the philology department of Lviv National University before becoming a university wide ensemble in 2004 to include both undergraduate and graduate Students from all departments. Oksana Melnychuk, senior teacher of the department of Musicology and Choir Conducting, is the creative leader and conductor of Lira since 2000. The choir frequently participates in an array of university programs and events, and performs at many more local and regional cultural events. Lira has produced hundreds of concerts, and their intriguing and diverse repertoire continues to spiritually enrich the performers and the audience alike. Besides the concerts, Lira is a participant and laureate of many regional, national and international feStivals and competitions. Ukrainian choral music performed by Lira was heard in Poland, Czechia, AuStria, Greece, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In the course of its exiStence, the collective significantly expanded and diversifiedof spiritual music, numerous arrangements of folk songs, and original works of European and Ukrainian classical and contemporary composers. The collective’s creations include a printed collection of choral pieces “Lira Sings” and three audio albums: Giovanni BattiSta Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater”, “Lira Sings – Women Youth Choir”, and “Taras Shevchenko’s Lyrics”. The lateSt collective’s album, “Taras Shevchenko’s Lyrics”, is dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko, and is a joint work of the choir and the eSteemed Ukrainian actor and professor Bohdan Kozak. Lira participants continue to sing in other adult amateur and professional groups, even after graduation. Despite the never ending turnaround of participants due to it being a Students only choir, Lira always amaze their liSteners with the higheSt levels of artiStic talent and creativity.