02 Jul Nata Vakshynska & composer Evgeny, descendants from Lviv & Moscow
Preoccupied as we are with our own circumstances, we sometimes forget that there are Jews living in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and the Ukraine, and that they too are struggling with the heavy legacy of the Shoah. Their historical reality was more cruel, their environment more hostile, with virtually no escape possibilities.
While passing through, we met artist Nata Vakshynska and her partner, the composer Evgeny. We listened to their performance and talked with each other for a few minutes. They originally come from Lviv (Nata) and Moscow (Evgeny), grew up during communist times (at least Evgeny did) and went to the conservatory. Nowadays they mainly tour through Central Europe.
Their music? Unique and also with an unmistakably Jewish sound. We recognized tunes (with the Sofar as an instrument) and texts in which H’shem was invoked.
Vakshynska, about the Shoah as a source of inspiration: “If Evgeny’s grandmother, still as a very young girl, a student, had not decided on a night, just to walk away with her younger sister, they would have ended up in the Babi Yar ravine the next day. ”
She nodded briefly at us and then she and Evgeny continued to play. Recognizable sounds, shared history, universal Judaism. For a moment differences disappeared.
Just listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pUeRNqOvGQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wpv0V2mczo&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR2qPjB47WaDd4kOxnB6rzR6sKIaDKdJzGv1f8RHDSo9vvsg21CEfWykLAk
Nata Vashynska & Evgeny also have a page on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/vakshynska/