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On February 28, the Halifax-based label Leaf Music released Unbroken: Music from Ukraine, a powerful album featuring works by Ukrainian composers, performed by Ukrainian-Canadian violinist Viktoria Grynenko. The album serves as Grynenko’s artistic response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, a way to amplify Ukrainian voices on a global scale.
The album showcases compositions by Valentin Silvestrov, Anna Pidgorna, Zoltan Almashi, Borys Loginov, and Oleg Bezborodko. All of the pieces were composed within the past 25 years, reflecting the enduring cultural identity of Ukraine, even amid the turmoil caused by war and political unrest.
Though Grynenko is now based in Edmonton, her Canadian journey began in Winnipeg. In 2011, she arrived on a scholarship to study at the University of Manitoba’s Desautels Faculty of Music under Oleg Pokhanovski. She later completed a Bachelor’s degree in violin performance at the University of Manitoba and a Master’s at the University of Ottawa, funded by the esteemed KUN Scholarship. Most recently, she earned her Doctor of Music degree from the University of Alberta, where she researched the intersection between violin and dance gestures under Guillaume Tardif. Grynenko's diverse background as both a soloist and collaborator has allowed her to take the stage with esteemed orchestras such as the Oslo Symphony Orchestra and the Glière Music Institute Symphony, while performing across Canada, Germany, Austria, and Italy.
A Call to Action Through Music
Grynenko has a passion for contemporary music. She had previously worked with various Canadian and American composers. However, she had never performed an entire program of Ukrainian works until Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The invasion profoundly affected her, pushing her to take action through her art.
“When the war started, there was a period where it felt like I couldn’t listen to music or read anything—it just seemed like you can't do anything,” Grynenko says. “But as time passed, I asked myself what I could do as an artist to contribute.” Her question led her to take tangible steps, including volunteering for various organizations and co-founding Job Hub, a volunteer initiative that assists newly arrived Ukrainian refugees in finding employment in Canada.
But as an artist, she felt compelled to contribute even further. She reached out to Ukrainian composers, curating a one-hour program that would form the foundation of Unbroken. With funding from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, she was able to pay her fellow musicians and cover the recording process. Once the album was completed, Grynenko approached Leaf Music, a label she had known about before the war, to release the album to a global audience.
Collaborative Process and Creative Interpretation
To mark the album’s release, Grynenko hosted a celebratory Zoom event featuring several of the composers, including Borys Loginov, Zoltan Almashi, and Oleg Bezborodko. Loginov, a former classmate from their studies in Kyiv, remained in Ukraine and pursued a career as a composer despite the war. Almashi, currently based in Kyiv, is composing an opera set to be performed in the basement of the Kharkiv Philharmonic—a precaution against air raids. Bezborodko, a pianist and professor in Kyiv, continues to create music that captures the emotional and physical toll of war.
The album opens with Through Closed Doors, a striking piece by Anna Pidgorna. The work’s visual score was originally written on an old door—one that had been struck with an axe. The image serves as a haunting metaphor for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
“There’s something violent about an axe hacking into a door,” Grynenko explains. “To me, the piece feels like a passionate dialogue happening between closed doors—people speaking,... but not hearing each other.”
Composed in 2014, the year Russia annexed Crimea, Through Closed Doors has taken on new resonance in the current geopolitical landscape. Its unconventional notation allows for interpretative freedom, and Grynenko and fellow violinist Guillaume Tardif carefully crafted their performance based on the score’s visual cues.
“The notation is fascinating,” Grynenko says. “The lines widen and thicken, indicating crescendos and emphasis. There’s a level of improvisation, but once you settle on an interpretation, it remains somewhat consistent.”
A Testament to Resilience
While some of the compositions on Unbroken predate the 2022 invasion, all of them reflect the endurance of Ukrainian culture and identity. Many of the composers featured on the album are now creating new works directly inspired by the war, aiming to communicate their experiences to the world.
For Grynenko, this project is about more than just music—it’s a declaration of cultural resistance. “This war didn’t start in 2022—it began in 2014,” she says, referencing the Revolution of Dignity.
Zoltan Almashi’s Duo #1, a piece originally composed in 2007 and revised in 2022. Grynenko elaborated on the reasons behind the composer’s decision to revise the work, she said. “His style changed a lot, and he wanted to polish it and make it more concise.”
Working alongside Guillaume Tardif from the University of Alberta, Grynenko noted the deep musical connection they developed as they performed the piece. The duo discovered subtle thematic elements that enhanced the beauty of the work, with Grynenko’s delicate tremolos complementing Tardif’s virtuosic cadenza.
One of the emotional centrepieces of Unbroken is Boris Loginov's Sleep During Insomnia. The piece, with its pre-recorded electronic sounds, creates a haunting atmosphere of everyday life disrupted by the violence of war. Grynenko explained the title's significance: “It speaks to a lot of Ukrainians, especially at the beginning of the war, when we had to check the news all the time. It was impossible to sleep, with the constant anxiety over what was happening.”
The piece blends the mundane—alarm clocks, children playing—with the sounds of air raid sirens and explosions, creating an immersive experience that conveys the overwhelming sense of uncertainty and fear.
The album also features a piece by the prominent Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, Melodies of the Moment, Cycle 1. Known for his sparse and meditative music, Silvestrov's works have resonated deeply within the Ukrainian music scene. Grynenko shared insights into the piece, explaining that it was part of a larger cycle and noted its soothing yet emotionally charged qualities.
“It's like the distilled version of music that he now writes,” she said, reflecting on Silvestrov's evolution from composing intricate works to embracing a more minimalist, reflective style in his later years.
The final piece on the album is Cossack Beyond the Danube, a fantasia for violin inspired by the opera Cossack Beyond the Danube by Semen Stepanovych Hulak-Artemovsky. Grynenko explained that the opera, which has deep cultural significance in Ukraine, is a popular staple in Ukrainian opera houses. The piece draws from Ukrainian musical traditions, and Grynenko highlighted how it pays tribute to the nation’s rich history through its vibrant, technical themes.
Promoting Ukrainian Culture and Supporting Artists Amidst Crisis
As the war continues to devastate Ukraine, Grynenko is adamant about the role art plays in resistance. “Ukrainian culture is actively destroyed—museums, archives, libraries—everything is being destroyed,” she said. “But luckily, we can put it all on the internet, and it can’t be destroyed.”
Grynenko hopes that by promoting Ukrainian music and supporting contemporary Ukrainian composers, listeners around the world will stand in solidarity with those who continue to create under extreme adversity.
In closing, Grynenko urged her audience to actively engage with Ukrainian artists, emphasizing the importance of preserving cultural heritage. “If you like a composer, keep searching for more Ukrainian composers, writers, painters. Despite all the adversities, they keep creating and being active.”
As the war rages on, Unbroken: Music from Ukraine stands as both a testament to the resilience of Ukrainian culture and a heartfelt call to support the artists who continue to pour their hearts into their work.
