Irena Turkevycz-Martynec

Irena Turkevycz-Martynec (25 December 1899 – 5 July 1983) was born in Brody, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, and came to Canada, to Winnipeg, in 1949. She was a Prima donna in the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, and performed in Paris, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, and many other European cities during her long and storied career.

Early life

Irena Turkevycz was born on December 25, 1899, in Brody, in today's Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. She was the third child in the family of priest, choir conductor, catechist, and music critic Ivan Turkevycz (Туркевич). Her mother was Sofia Kormoshiv (Кормошів).

When Irena was six, her father was appointed catechist of the Teaching Seminary in Zalishchyky (Заліщики), where he was provided with a separate house located near the Dniester river. He became the soul of the musical life of the city, often involving his wife Sophia, a musically gifted pianist, and his children. Irena received her first music lessons from her mother, and later a professional music teacher appeared in their house. From a very young age Irena acquired musical and artistic skills and participated in Shevchenko concerts. her father directed the choir, which at that time was one of the largest and best Ukrainian church choirs in Europe. Upon returning to Lviv, Irena continued her studies with the Basilian Sisters.

On June 21, 1929, on the stage of the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, a performance of the opera Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven was given. Senior students of the Lviv Conservatory under the direction of their teacher Adam Soltys participated. Among these performers was Irena. In a review in the newspaper "Dilo" (Діло), June 22, 1929, she was singled out for praise.

She also showed promise as a dramatic actress. She tried directing. Writer Zinovy Knysh writes in his memoirs about the musical life of Lviv, and that in 1929 Irena organized a theatrical group in her father's house and put on plays: "The Sin" by Volodymyr Vynnychenko, and "The Fires Of St. John" by Hermann Sudermann.

In the spring of 1930, her first solo concert was held, at which Irena performed arias, of Gorislava from the opera Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka, of Cio-Cio-san from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, several romances, and Ukrainian folk songs.

In 1930, she went to Berlin, where her sister Stefania lived at that time, and Irena studied for three years at the Berlin University of the Arts with Professor Weissenborn (Вайсенборн) who worked with students of the likes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. She learned voice control in the Berlin State Opera, and completed her drama schooling at the Hochschule für Musik.

In 1933 Irena moved to Prague where her sister, Stefania, now taught piano and was an accompanist at the Prague Conservatory. Irena took vocal lessons with professors at the Prague Conservatory and sang in the Prague Opera. and followed him where his work took them, and resourcefully found herself singing in cities across Europe. This nomadic life lasted for 12 years. from Nikolai Gogol's story May Night from the collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.

On January 28, 1946, in the camp for displaced persons located near Augsburg, Germany an organization called "The Association of Ukrainian Stage Artists" (Об’єднання мистців української сцени) was created, and Irena was on the board, along with: V. Blavatsky, Y. Barnych, E. Kuril, S. Kryzhanivsky and T. Fedorovich.

Canada In 1949 Irena immigrated to Canada and settled in Winnipeg. Her husband took the post of editor of the newspaper "New Pathway" (Новий шлях), and Irena became a member of the "Renaissance" (Ренесанс) theater.

In 1960, Irena became very active working with children's opera in Winnipeg at the Canadian-Ukrainian Institute Prosvita, on Pritchard Avenue and Arlington Street, in the city's North-End. Her musical company rehearsed at The Ukrainian National Home Association building on McGregor St. and Burrows Ave. Her very presence attracted a talented group of musicians, choreographers, and set and costume people. She became the nucleus for an ensemble of gifted children whom she began to mentor. She was known to the kids as Pani Martynec (Пані Мартинець). In 1964, they performed Mykola Lysenko's Koza Dereza (Коза-Дереза). In 1965, the cast performed The Snow Queen (Зимова Краля) by Mykola Lysenko. Both Koza Dereza and The Snow Queen were staged at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg.

In 1967, her musical troupe traveled from Winnipeg by train to Montreal to perform Koza Dereza at the International and Universal Exposition (Expo 67) which was also being held to celebrate Canada's centennial year. From Montreal, the performers were bused to Ottawa for an encore concert.

Many of the young people in her company carried on her spirit when they grew up. Irena Welhasch (Baerg), who played the crab in Koza Dereza, went on to a career in opera herself, performing on stages of major opera houses across North America. Genia Blum, a dancer, writer and translator, who danced the role of Lada in Snow Queen, studied at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, danced professionally in Europe under her maiden name Eugenia Snihurowycz, and founded a ballet studio in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she continues to support the arts through a dance foundation named after her mother, Daria Nyzankiwska. Russell Mychajluk (Mitchell), who played the rabbit in Koza Dereza, went on to write and produce music for the pop charts, for television, and for theatre. Myroslav (Slavko) Klymkiw, who played the bear in Koza Dereza, went on to become Head of Network Programming for the C.B.C. Still others, from her musical group, became facilitators and administrators in cultural institutions in Canada.

Irena Turkevycz-Martynec died July 5, 1983, in Winnipeg.