Andriy Fedorovych Omelchenko
(2/7/1926-9/5/1981)

Biography

Omelchenko initially began to play bandura

Bandura

Bandura refers to a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of a box zither and lute, as well as its lute-like predecessor, the kobza...

 from Makar Osadchyj in Dniprodzherzhinsk and joined the bandura capella there. In 1947 he played bandura in a Military Ensemble.

In his biography he stated that he took some of his first bandura lessons from Hryhory Kytasty

Hryhory Kytasty

Hryhoriy Trokhymovych Kytasty was a Ukrainian émigré composer and conductor. In 2008 he was honored with the Hero of Ukraine state decoration.- Early years :Hryhory Kytasty was born in the town of Kobeliaky, Poltava oblast...

.

In 1956 he completed both the vocal and orchestral faculties of the Kiev Conservatory

Kiev Conservatory

The Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music education. Its courses include postgraduate education.-History:...

. He continued to study bandura under Volodymyr Kabachok

Volodymyr Kabachok

Volodymyr Andryievych Kabachok was a bandura player in the Ukraine.-Biography:Born in the village of Petrivka, in the Poltava region, Kabachok became a singer in the Archbishop's choir in Poltava until 1907 when he entered the Poltava music college.Kabachok continued his music education at the...

 and Andriy Bobyr.

From 1952 he worked as a soloist of the bandura ensemble of the Ukrainian Radio. From 1954 he taught bandura at the special music high school in Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

, and from 1961 at the Kiev Music College.

As a soloist he performed in Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. He was a laureate of the international competition of performers on folk instruments which took place in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in 1957.

He published a series of collections of music for the bandura and composed a number of individual works. In 1967 he edited the "Handbook for the bandura" by Mykola Opryshko.

In 1963 he completed post graduate studies at the Kiev Conservatory

Kiev Conservatory

The Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music is a Ukrainian state institution of higher music education. Its courses include postgraduate education.-History:...

 and in 1968 he received the title of Candidate of Arts for his thesis on the development of the bandura.

He continued to work on a Doctoral dissertation on Ukrainian folk instruments while teaching bandura at the Institute of Culture

Institute of Culture

Institute of Culture was an institution of vocational education established in the Soviet Union and still existing in some post-Soviet states, aimed at training of workers in various areas of culture and organization of leisure activities....

.

He died of liver cancer on May 9, 1981.

Publications

• 1965 - Bandura i mystetstvo bandurystiv za radians'koho chasu - "NTE" #4
• 1967 - Mystetsvo bandurystiv na pidneinni - NTE #6 (pp. 33-35)
• 1967 - Seminar kerivnykiv kapel ta ansambliv bandurystiv - NTE -
• 1968 - Vstup do obr. "Oj poplyvy , vutko" - M. Opryshky. - MTE - #6 (p. 87-8)
• 1968 - Razvitie kobzarskgo iskusstva na Ukraine. Avtoreferat K. - (pp. 25)
• 1974 - Za tradytsieiu narodnykh spivtsiv - Muzyka - #2, (pp.24-25)
• 1975 - Banduryst Fedir Zharko - in NTE, #3
• 1978 - Kobzars'ka dialnist' I. I. Kuchenura-Kucherenko - NTE- #4 (p. 42-49)
• 1979 - Poklykannia - Muzyka, - #2 (p.24)
• 1980 - Bandurist Mykola Opryshko - in NTE - #4
• 1980 - (with Kyrdan, B.) - Narodni spivtsi-muzykanty na Ukraini - Kiev.
• 1989 - (with S. Bashtan) - Handbook for the bandura - Kiev.

Sources

Zheplynsky, B. - Kobzari Bandurysty - Lviv, 1999

Necrolog published in NTE 1981 #4