Ask composer, pianist and Juno nominee Larysa Kuzmenko about her oratorio Golden Harvest and she’ll tell you about struggle. “Normally a 30 minute work like this will take three years to write,” she explains. “I had 10 months and I almost went insane but when the gun is pointed to my head, I produce.”

Golden Harvest is the next performance on tap in the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra’s Masters Series. The SSO wanted a poignant way to mark an important anniversary for people in Saskatchewan. Golden Harvest was commissioned by celebrated choral conductor Laurence Ewashko to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Ukrainian settlement in Canada. Between 1891 – 1914, approximately 170,000 people came to this country from Ukraine, many of them settling in Saskatchewan. It’s only the second performance of the piece in its entirety, the first by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in 2016. The SSO’s performance is a debut of sorts as the music has been retooled to feature more of the choral elements.

The piece follows the story of one family as they leave Ukraine for the promise of a better life. They are meant to represent the immigration experience. It’s a story that Kuzmenko knows personally. “My parents were both born in the Ukraine, my mothers family died in the 1932 famine. There were times that I remember hearing her crying, it was a very difficult time for them.”

The oratorio opens with a Ukrainian folk song that Kuzmenko remembers fondly as a child and it’s a theme that she carries through the entire piece. “There were times, when I was writing the piece that I was deeply moved,” she says. “Sometimes it felt that someone else was writing this music, it just flowed through me.”

This story isn’t always a pleasant one as the family encounters the hardships of homesteading, the death of a child and the internment of the men in work camps during the First World War. It’s also a story about perseverance as the music celebrates the harvest of wheat and the contributions Ukrainian immigrants made to Canada through agriculture.

Golden Harvest will be performed by two soloists, a choir and the orchestra. Saskatoon soprano Kateryna Khartova will make her solo debut on the symphony stage and will be joined by baritone Joel Allison as well as a choir made up of the Greystone Singers and the University of Saskatchewan chorus. Khartova has done her homework, calling Kuzmenko to discuss the story and the music in detail. “She wanted advice and my input on the piece,” says Kuzmenko. “I’m really interested to hear how a young singer will interpret the part of the mother. I want to see how she interprets that struggle.”

Kuzmenko is proud of this work and her heritage and she shares that pride with audiences as Golden Harvest debuts in Western Canada. She says she’s excited to hear it live in Saskatoon.”This piece belongs on the prairies. It’s the perfect place to have it performed first.”

The celebration of Ukrainian Canadians will also include performances by celebrated Saskatoon violinist Carissa Klopoushak. She’ll perform Canadian Emily Doolittle’s concerto Sapling. The Orchestra will also play Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 2 in C minor, Op. 17. The composer was known for his love of the Ukraine.

Show Details:

A Golden Harvest – Ukrainian Celebration

Saturday March 25, 2017

7:30p.m.

TCU Place, Sid Buckwold Theatre

Tickets $21 – $70

Sapling – Emily Doolittle

Golden Harvest – Larysa Kuzmenko

Symphony no. 2 in C minor, Op. 17 – Piotr Ilych Tchaikovsky