Members of the Winnipeg-based Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus stand in a two-rowed half-moon circle facing their conductor, singing Prayer for Ukraine, a hymn that’s offering them comfort days into Russia’s invasion into their homeland.
“Protect our beloved Ukraine,” the four-part choir sings in Ukrainian. “Bless her with freedom and light.”
The almost 30 vocalists gathered at the Ukrainian Canadian Institute Prosvita on Pritchard Avenue Wednesday night for their weekly rehearsal, a day after performing the national anthems of Canada and Ukraine at the Winnipeg Jets game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Second tenor Christopher Sklepowich said he joined Hoosli — a choir founded in 1969 — after moving to Winnipeg from Dauphin, Man., to stay connected with Ukrainian music.
Now, it’s also a way for him to show support for Ukraine.
“It’s extremely heartbreaking to watch from a distance and to feel so helpless and powerless to intervene and to help,” said Sklepowich, who’s been with the choir for more than 22 years and currently serves as its chair of board of directors.
“We want to support them, and as a choir, the best way to do that is through our voices.”
First tenor Scott Chabluk and second tenor Orest Deneka keep Ukraine in their thoughts while singing, along with family, friends and Hoosli members with more direct ties to the country at war with Russia.
“I’m thinking about my wife who’s at home right now, waiting for the call or hoping she doesn’t get a call, where most of her family is in Ukraine,” said Deneka, who wore a gilded black shirt gifted to him by his mother-in-law, at times getting choked up during his interview with Global News Wednesday.
“At night, we sleep with one eye open.”
The 54-year-old first-generation immigrant said he joined the Hoosli choir when he was 19, when the Soviet Union was still intact.
“We had a sense that if we did not try to help preserve the culture and be advocates for those who could not have the voice at that time, that that was an important role for us to have as Ukrainians.”
Now, the choir’s recently adjusted repertoire is helping him cope with the unfolding events overseas.
“This is catharsis,” Deneka said. “(Being part of Hoosli) gives me hope. It gives me strength to hear those songs, because those words are so powerful and they have such a powerful message for all Ukrainians.”
In joining Hoosli, eight-year member Chabluk — whose family emigrated in the 1800s — was able to connect with his Ukrainian heritage along with the language, calling it one of the best decisions he’s ever made. Chabluk also found friendship.
“The brotherhood, the camaraderie — these are some of my best friends on the planet now,” he said.
Chabluk says members are supporting each other through check-ins and conversations, especially these last few days.
“I’m singing not so much about my family that’s there because they’re very few in number, but just about everyone, about the innocents – the people, the babas, the children.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Sklepowich’s wife had received a video message from her extended family in Ukraine. It captured them watching national television, which was airing footage of Hoosli performing the anthems the night before.
“We could hear them in the background as they were watching that video, crying and thanking us for continuing to support them and continuing to send our message of solidarity at this difficult time,” Sklepowich said.
“The one thing we can do is continue to show our friends and family in Ukraine that we’re thinking of them.”
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