On the Road

The choir has had the privilege to travel. Choristers have raised their voices in song and prayer on four continents: North America (Canada and the United States), Europe (Italy and Ukraine), Asia, and Africa (Israel and Egypt). Not bad for a parish choir!

Israel and Egypt

In 1988, the Rev. Evtymij Volynskyj, then the hegumen of the Studite Monastery near Woodstock, ON, invited the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Youth Choir (forerunner of today’s parish choir) on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Egypt to not only mark the Millennium of Christianity in Ukraine, but to also pray for the liberation of the Ukrainian Catholic Church from Soviet oppression. While most of the tour was devoted to the pilgrimage, there were a few touristic moments. One highlight in particular comes to mind. While in Egypt, many choristers were able to test-drive camels in the Western Desert. This epic journey served as the basis for a 466-page illustrated chronicle, published as Ukrainian Millennial Celebrations in Egypt and Israel, 1988: Youth Choir Prays for World Peace and Freedom of the Church in the Soviet Union, published by Papyrus & Style in 1994.

Rome and Ukraine

In 1992, once again on the invitation of Rev. Evtymij Volynskyj, the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Youth Choir was invited to participate in the celebrations of the transfer of the remains of His Beatitude Patriarch Josyf Slipyj from Rome to Lviv. Choristers had the ineffable privilege of singing the final Panakhyda for Patriarch Josyf at St. Sophia Ukrainian Catholic Church in Rome and celebrating the Divine Liturgy with Panakhyda for His Beatitude at St. George’s Cathedral in Lviv. Since the choir travelled with Bishop Isidore Borecky, Eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada, and clergy, the choir also had an open invitation to celebrate mass in several churches in Ukraine including: Kyiv, Lviv, Zarvanytsja, Univ, Ternopil, and Pochajiv.

Ottawa

In 2017 and 2018, the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Church Choir took part in Ottawa’s Capital Ukrainian Festival, including concerts of liturgical music in the St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Shrine.  A few years earlier, in 2011, at the invitation of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, choristers were eastward bound on Highway 401 to Ottawa, to participate in the unveiling of the Shevchenko monument on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the great Bard’s death and the 120th anniversary of Ukrainian immigration to Canada.

Western Ukraine

The Parish Choir was off to Western Ukraine in January 2020. Invited to participate in three festivals: the 21st Annual International Festival The Great Carol, in Lviv; the 10th Annual International Festival Carolling in the Majzli District, in Ivano-Frankivsk; and the First Annual Festival at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, On This Day is Born to the Virgin, this was the first time any of these festivals showcased a Canadian ensemble. Given this opportunity, the choir included in its repertoire Canada’s oldest Christmas carol: The Huron Carol, and aptly rendered it in four languages: English, French, Wendaat and Ukrainian. The main concerts from all three festivals were live-streamed and reached an international audience.