Hryhoriy Bazhul

[yarema]

Dear Victor,

Could you provide a short biography on Hryhoriy Bazhul?

All I know about him is that he studied under Khotkevych,
and supported him while the latter was being repressed,
was imprisonned for two years as a result, and later moved to Australia where he taught you and presumably others.

The photo on your instruments website shows him playing
Kharkiv bandura with the left hand in the turned over position.


Regards,

Yarema

[Bandura]

He was born in Poltava, and at the age of 8 his parents moved to Kharkiv were he studied agronomy.

He met up with a blind Kobzar Pavlo Keleberda and became interested in his music, inviting him home etc and in time signed up for the bandura courses that Khotkevych was running. At that time there were one set of courses initially set up at the Muz dram Institute and another set up the followinf year at the workers conservatory.

He was in the workers conservatory course.

Khotkveych's courses were stopped in 1932.

Bazhul continued to visit him at home every now and then, borrowing music and copying it out.

Khotkevych lost all his offiecial governement jobs in 1932 and as a result he was able to get bread coupons for himself and for his family, and Khotkevch had a mass of kids from his 3 women.

Bazhul somehow got him bread coupons and basically saved his life and that of his family. He also helped him out in 1934 when he was mamed after falling/being pushed from a train.

He was arrested and spent 2 years in a labour colony.

He spenat 2 years in Siberia and then returned to Kharkiv.

During the German occupation he performes and made attempts to organize a bandura capella. He pubished a number of inflamatory antoi-soviet articles regarding bandura layers in the occupational newspapers.

With the Soveiet forces returning to Kharkiv, he moved to Ternopil where he was in a trio with Z. Shtokalko and Yurkevych performing. A number of performances took place for members of the UPA and Bazhul used to state that he was instrmental in stopping Shtokalko joined the UPA as a medic.

He performed throughout Slovakia and ended up in Augsberg where he joined the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. In the Chorus he became the Hospodar.

He was instrumental in getting Bozhyk to join the Chiorus as a conductor and was the go between between Bozhyk and Kytasty when there were conflicts.

After one of the rehearsals his roommate was hit accross the face by one of the assistant conductors. Bazhul thought that this was unacceptable behaviour and wanted to have the assistant conductor removed from his position. he began lobbying the members of the capella who all supported him, however whena speial meeting was held and it came to a vote, it was decided to make an "open" vote" ie a raise of hands and as a result many people did not vote the way that they had toold Bazhul they would.

Bazhul left the capella.

He organizd what originally was a n octet but settled down to be a quintet which bega giving concerts at the DP camps in Germany.
The quintet was more mobile than the Capella and could give up to 4 concerts per day. The income from each concert was approximately the same as the income from each Capella concert only instead of dividing it up between 35 members they divided it up between 5. Sometimes giving 4 concerts a day they were living very well in Germany.

Bazhul moved to Australia settling in Sydney. He continued to perform there. and married my maternal grandfathers step daughter.

He had a son from a previous marriage living in Irkutsk.

In 1958 he organized a similar quintet and they recorded a record and did a tour of Australia with a concert of Shevchenko's songs.

The enselble fell apart after the tour, in 1961. In 1964 a new ensemble organized unter the auspices of Plast was organzised . In 1970 a school of bandura was also organized. In 1971 he handed over the direction of the ensemble to P. Deriashnyj.

Bazhul was a patron of the Faculty of Ukrainian studies in Australia.

His wife returned to live in Kyiv in 1990. His bandura and portrait are in the the Kobzar museum in Pereyaslav Khmelnytsk.

I have all his music archives.