The next phase: recording and a special live concert
Around this time last year I travelled to Poland to interview Ukrainian refugees, see family members, visit Ukrainian war art exhibits, and to understand the incredibly heavy war history in Warsaw.
That trip was emotionally draining. After returning home, I worked on the music for the album but had to step away from nearly finished pieces of music because I was depleted, could not translate my thoughts clearly into music, in order to create something worth listening to.
As I stepped away from writing music (and these updates), we continued to work on the documentary with Ice River Films, and I searched for funding and wrote applications. In the fall of 2023, we had established a deadline for the music to be ready (recorded, mixed, ready to be released). I revisited the music at that time but was still feeling stuck and unmotivated to finish it.
Last Friday I finally finished writing the album, formatted the sheet music and sent it to all of the musicians – a total of 16. I won’t get into details, but that is a lot of people to organize… It was definitely easier to breathe after that. And then of course life throws curve balls, so now I’m dealing with some other crucial organizational things for the recording of this project. I won’t bore you with that either HAHA. The ease of breath that came with the seemingly large, yet small victory of sending out finished sheet music has been balanced out with new stress. Everything is fine though.
I am extremely excited and so ready to record this project next month– and frankly looking forward to finally getting it done. Because of the subject matter, this project has been incredibly draining emotionally. Because of the size of the project, it has been draining mentally, from a project organization perspective.
As soon as we get into recording, I promise I’ll send updates and behind the scenes stuff :-)
The other thing that I am organizing is a concert event, on March 20th, 8pm at The Handsome Daughter (61 Sherbrook St), Winnipeg.
My band will present Until The Sun Comes to the public for the first time at this special event. We will be joined by Steppe Kolektyv for a community evening of Ukrainian traditional song and dance, reflections on present atrocities, and expressions of hope and courage for the future. A cash raffle fundraiser for Ukrainian aid will be held, with prizes provided by Ukrainian-Canadian artists, photographers, artists, stylists, and more.
It would mean the world to us if you came to hear this new music come to life and to participate in this very special Ukrainian evening.
Tickets are limited, there are only 100. You can purchase tickets here.
If you’ve been here from the beginning, you know how this project started, and I appreciate your support so much. If you have recently joined this long process, here is an overview of what I’ve been working on:
Until The Sun Comes is a musical suite documenting Ukrainian war stories, led by Ukrainian-Canadian drummer and composer Tetyana Haraschuk.
The aim of Until The Sun Comes is to musically document and respond to the atrocities experienced by the Ukrainian people during the Russian invasion and war. This project began in October of 2022, with the gathering of stories through interviews with Ukrainians affected by the war. These interviews were sorted into themes, which went on to become musical sketches, and were then later composed into a whole musical album.
The making of Until The Sun Comes is being filmed by documentary filmmaker Sam Karney of Ice River Films. Sam has been capturing every step of the research, interviewing, and composition phases of this project. The documentary, which will have its TV premiere on CBC in the fall of 2024, gives an intimate look into an artist’s acceptance of grief and is an exploration of music as a vessel for the pain of cultural atrocity.
Thank you for being here. It would be great to see you at the event!
Thank you to Canada Council for the Arts for their support of this project.