Ihor Poklad

Ihor Dmytrovych Poklad (; 10 December 1941 – 9 July 2025) was a Ukrainian composer. He wrote songs that became classics and have been performed by famous Ukrainian singers, such as "The Magic Violin" performed by Nina Matviienko. He later turned to scores for theatre and films. He was honoured as People's Artist of Ukraine and Hero of Ukraine, among others.

Life and career

Born on 10 December 1941 in Frunze, Kirghiz SSR (present-day Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) in the family of a military serviceman, after World War II, Poklad with his family moved to Ternopil where he finished high school and a music school. After 1957 he continued his music studies in Kyiv, at the Glière Institute and Kyiv Conservatory, Poklad started off his career in the Academical Ensemble of Song and Dance of the Internal Troops of Ukraine.

Already during his studies, between 1965 and 1968, Poklad worked as artistic director of the all-female Mriya vocal-instrumental ensemble and began to compose songs, He underwent surgery in 2014. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he and his wife lived in a basement in Vorzel for several weeks.

Music Poklad's most prominent compositions combined Ukrainian folk aesthetics with rhythms and instruments of contemporary popular music, in particular big-beat, rock and disco. music for animated films Cossacks and , the rock opera Herod,

Awards and honours Poklad was a laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize in 1986. He was honoured as a in 1989, a People's Artist of Ukraine in 1997, as a Hero of Ukraine in 2021, as a National Legend of Ukraine in 2024.