UVV organizes public vocal workshops led by accomplished singers, musicians, and scholars in the various folk traditions of Ukraine. Workshop leaders come from near and abroad to share their knowledge, stories, songs, and vocal technique with us. All ages and vocal abilities are welcome to take part! No knowledge of Ukrainian is necessary.
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Would YOU like to lead a Ukrainian vocal workshop in New York City or virtually? If so, please contact us! We are interested in traditional songs with any tie to Ukraine.
Upcoming Vocal Workshop
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Songs of Fortune & Fate with Olenka Kleban
Thursday, October 29, 7-9 pm
New York University - The Great Room
19 University Place, New YOrk, NY
Join us for an enchanted evening of Ukrainian songs about fate and fortune with acclaimed singer and teacher Olenka Kleban!
Join Ukrainian Village Voices for an enchanted evening of Ukrainian music, story, and community with acclaimed singer and teacher Olenka Kleban.
Together we will sing traditional Ukrainian folk polyphonic songs over two hours, with a short intermission. All songs will be taught by ear, and no singing or Ukrainian language experience is required.
In the workshop, we will analyze lyrics and discuss their meaning and interpretation, exploring how these older songs communicate fortune and fate. Fortune appears through vivid poetic imagery, including ecological metaphors and pathetic fallacy where nature mirrors human emotion, as well as through lyrical narratives that involve fortune tellers and the fortunes they foretell. Fate, meanwhile, is explored as something shaped by family and social circumstance, as well as something that may be predicted or foretold.
To learn the polyphony, we will listen to field recordings of native village singers and folk choir recordings as resources, and we will also sing together live with Olenka as she teaches each part of the arrangements by ear. While we will offer minor attention to Ukrainian vocal technique, the main focus will be on learning to carry the polyphonic counter-melodies together as a group.
As the Halloween season approaches, join us on October 29 at 7:00 PM for an unforgettable evening of music, fortune telling, and fun!
Meet Our Workshop Leader
Olenka Kleban is a singer, teacher, and cultural programmer specializing in Ukrainian polyphonic song. Ukrainian is her first language, which she grew up speaking at home and throughout the tight-knit Ukrainian-Canadian community of Hamilton, Ontario.
In her formative years in Toronto during the 2010s, Olenka was a core member of kosa kolektiv, singing at weddings, festivals, theatre productions, and kitchen parties. She co-founded the KalynDar Ukrainian polyphony ensemble in 2015, served as Musical Director for kosa kolektiv's Koliada in 2016, taught Harmony Singing at Folk Camp and Ukrainian folk singing at Kobzarska Sich Bandura Camp, and formed the duet Rano Rano with Natalia Telentso.
Olenka has studied with renowned Ukrainian polyphonic song teachers and ethnographers including Inna Kovtun, Nadia Tarnawsky, Eva Salina, Maria Sonevytsky, Alexis Kochan, Iryna Voloshyna, and trained intensively for over a year with Marichka, founding member of Bozhychi and creator of Daughters of Donbas. She has also studied Georgian, Belarusian, Balkan, Polish, French Canadian, and Cajun vocal traditions with master teachers across North America.
Since moving to San Diego in 2021, Olenka has produced concerts for House of Ukraine, including the Winter Songs of Ukraine series at Mingei International Museum, bringing artists like Balaklava Blues and Inna Kovtun to the city. She has performed at the Aga Khan Museum, The Ukrainian Museum (NYC), and on CBC Radio — and, most meaningfully, in countless homes for the Ukrainian caroling tradition, koliada.
Beyond music, Olenka is a professional sculptor and mouldmaker, now merging bronze casting with song and ritual through bellmaking.
PAST WORKSHOPS
2026
Learn more about our 2026 workshops.
September 30: Ukrainian Vocal Workshop led by Ukrainian Village Voices at Berea College. Berea, Kentucky.
May 2: Songs & Dances of the Crimean Tatars with The New York Crimean Tatar Ensemble. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
2025
December 14: Winter Ritual Songs & Blessings with Ukrainian Village Voices (Zoya Shepko, Laryssa Czebiniak, & Ulana Pryjmak). Ripley-Grier Studios, Midtown, NYC.
October 12: Kurbasy Up Close: Master Class in Ukrainian Folk Singing (Mariia Oneshchak, Nataliia Rybka-Parkhomenko, & Severyn Danyleiko). Teatro LATEA, Lower East Side, NYC.
August 10: Lyrical Songs of Love Lost with Benya Stewart. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
May 30: PS20 Ukrainian folk song workshops for elementary school children. Led by Ukrainian Village Voices. Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
January 22: The Intersection of Ukrainian Song & Dance: Folk Dance Pryspivky with Anastasia Fyk. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
2024
See details about our 2024 workshops.
November 17: Ukrainian Village Carols & their Choral Arrangements with Dr. Marika Kuzma. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
May 12: Vocal Polyphony from the Chernihiv Region with Jurij Josyfovych. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
March 16: Summoning Feminine Spring: Ukrainian Ritual Song & Dance with Alina Kuzma. Cre8ive NYC, Midtown, NYC.
2023
We were excited to hold more in-person workshops in 2023.
April 27: Songs of the Kobzar Tradition with Jurij Fedynskyj. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
March 31: Easter Folk Psalms of Ukraine with Iryna Voloshyna. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
February 18: Lyrical Songs from the Zhytomyr Region with Nadia Tarnawsky. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
2022
Read about our workshops in 2022.
December 2: Songs from the Front: Ukrainian Soldier Songs with Marichka Marczyk. Playwrights Downtown, NoHo, NYC.
October 22: Traditional Songs of the Cherkasy Region with Halyna Pshenichkina. Virtual session.
October 15: Hudson West Folk Festival. Workshop led by Ukrainian Village Voices. Nimbus Arts Center, Jersey City, NJ.
July 30: Open Arts LES by FABnyc. Workshop led by Ukrainian Village Voices. Avenue B, Lower East Side, NYC.
June 23: Conscript & Soldier Songs with Inna Kovtun. Virtual session.
June 9: Open Arts LES by FABnyc. Workshop led by Ukrainian Village Voices. East 4th Street, Lower East Side, NYC.
January 30: Songs of Polissia with Nadia Tarnawsky. Virtual session.
2021
Dive into the details of our 2021 workshop offerings.
April 25: Ukrainian Children’s Songs with Olya Fryz. Virtual session.
January 10: Folk Music of Crimean Tatars with Uriye Kermenchykli & Dinara Faizova. Virtual session. Media coverage.
2020
Our virtual sessions kept us singing the latter part of 2020!
November 22: Ukrainian Folk Songs & American Counterparts with Brian Dolphin. Virtual session.
July 23: Bridges to Cultures: Macaronic Songs and the Neighbors' Culture with Zisl Slepovitch. Virtual session.
February 29: Wandering Tunes: Songs from the Borderlines with Psoy Korolenko. Chelsea, NYC.
2019
Find out what we learned at our public workshops in 2019.
December 7: Hutsul Winter Songs with Koliadnyky from Kryvorivnia. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
November 17: Song of Podillya with Iryna Voloshyna. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
October 20: Folk Songs from the Ukrainian Kuban Region with Ihor Perevertniuk. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
July 28: Brooklyn Roots Festival (Tracking Traditions Along the B/Q train). Kid-Friendly Workshop. Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY. VIDEO
June 27: Songs for Celebration with UVV. Sheepshead Bay Public Library, Brooklyn, NY. PHOTOS
June 22: Ivana Kupala: A night of songs, rituals and solstice magic! Bethlehem, PA. VIDEO
May 4: Traditional Polyphony from Central & Eastern Ukraine with Marichka Marczyk. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS
April 14: Ukrainian Spring Songs for Kids with UVV Singers. Jalopy Theatre, Brooklyn, NYC. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
March 31: Соловейко//Soloveiko with Eva Salina: Deconstructing Ukrainian Traditional Singing Techniques. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
2018
Check out what we learned at our public workshops in 2018.
December 16: Village Koliada with UVV. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS & VIDEOS
November 18: Songs of Kriachkivka with Nadia Tarnawsky. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS
October 27: Lviv’s Kurbasy: The Theatricality of Traditional Songs. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS
May 6: From Polissia to Poltava with Shelley Thomas. East Village, NYC.
April 15: Warm the Earth with Vesnianky! Ritual Spring & Lyrical Love Songs with Natalia Rada Demchuk. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
March 25: Ukrainian Village Songs & Traditions with Inna Kovtun. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
2017
Read more about our public vocal workshops in 2017.
November 19: Songs of Kyiv's Romani Theatre with Petra Gelbart. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
November 4: UVV Song Share & Community Potluck. Shawangunk Ridge Farm, New Paltz, NY.
October 22: Songs of Podillya with Iryna Voloshyna. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
October 14: Harvest Songs Workshop & Parade with Brian Dolphin. Children’s Magical Garden, East Village, NYC.
July 15: Vocal Workshops with Laryssa Czebiniak. Soyuzivka Heritage Center’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival, Kerhonkson, NY.
July 8: Vocal Workshop with Laryssa Czebiniak and Ulana Pryjmak. Private wedding, Arkville, NY.
June 20: Ivana Kupala - Midsummer's Eve. Far Rockaway, NY. PHOTOS.
May 15: Jurij Fedynskyj: Songs of Kryachkivka - Generation "U”. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
March 12: Songs of the Borderlands: Jewish Songs from Polesia with Dmitri Zisl Slepovitch. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
2016
November 13: Yiddish Songs from Ukraine with Zhenya Lopatnik. East Village, NYC.
October 30: Harvest Songs Workshop and Parade with Rozhanytsia and Drevo's Ihor Perevertniuk. East Village, NYC.
August 28: Ritual Folk Songs with Rozhanytsia of Ukraine. East Village, NYC. VIDEO.
August 26: An Evening of Folk Music and Dance with Rozhanytsia. East Village, NYC.
July 9: Vocal Workshops with Laryssa Czebiniak. Soyuzivka Heritage Center’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival, Kerhonkson, NY.
June 5: Summer Village Songs Workshop with Maria Sonevytsky. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
May 21: Song Share with Kosa Kolektiv. Shawangunk Ridge Farm, New Paltz, NY. PHOTOS.
April 23: Song Exchange Workshop with Kalendar and Kosa Kolektiv. Toronto, ON. PHOTOS.
April 10: Calling Spring! A Workshop with Shelley Thomas. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
January 21: Four Seasons of Song: A Workshop with Mariana Sadovska. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
2015
December 13: St. Andrew's Eve with Natalka Demchuk. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
November 1: Biliy Holos with Eva Salina. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
October 18: Harvest Songs with Andriy Milavsky. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
July 11: Vocal Workshop with Laryssa Czebiniak. Soyuzivka Heritage Center’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival, Kerhonkson, NY.
June 14: Ballads from the Ukrainian and Yiddish Heartland with Michael Alpert and Julian Kytasty. East Village, NYC.
May 30: Ivana Kupala Workshop with Kosa Kolektiv. Shawangunk Ridge Farm, New Paltz, NY. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
April 19: Songs from the Steppe to Slobidschyna with Ihor Perevertniuk. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
February 1: Polyphonic Singing with Mariana Sadovska. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
January 24: Workshop with Marichka Kudriavtseva of Bozhychi. Toronto, ON. PHOTOS.
2014
December 21: Winter Folk Carols with the Hutsul Koliadnyky from Kryvorivnia. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
October 19: Songs Inspired by Maidan: Workshop with Nadia Tarnawsky. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
October 5: Song Exchange with Maria Sonevytsky and Supruli. Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
September 28: Harvest Songs with Andriy Milavsky and Halyna Shepko. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS. VIDEO.
August 29 - September 1: Song Exchange with Kosa Kolektiv. Grafton, Ontario. PHOTOS.
June 16: Workshop with DakhaBrakha. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
May 4: Spring Song and Dance with Kosa Kolektiv. East Village, NYC. PHOTOS.
May 3: Spring Song and Dance with Kosa Kolektiv. Shawangunk Ridge Farm, New Paltz, NY. PHOTOS.
Ukrainian Village Voices is supported in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) with the support of Governor Kathy Hocul and the New York State Legislature, and Creative Engagement supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and NYSCA and administered by LMCC. LMCC serves, connects and makes space for artists and community.