Raisa Kyrychenko

Raisa Opanasivna Kyrychenko (née Korzh; ; 14 October 1943 – 9 February 2005) was a Ukrainian mezzo-soprano singer and music teacher who is a recipient of the Hero of Ukraine and Order of Princess Olga. The singer's vast repertory included compositions by modern artists as well as traditional songs from Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine.

Early life and education Born on 14 October 1943, in the Ukrainian village of Koreshchyna. She sang as a soloist in the school choir when she studied in middle school.

Career The Kremenchuk Automobile Plant's house of culture's district choir leader, Pavlo Ochenash, brought notice to her distinctive voice. He was the one who assisted the young Raisa in obtaining the approval of the authorities of the communal farms to relocate to the city and join the choir.

She spent her 19 years in Cherkasy, right on the brink of her eventual heyday in Poltava. She started having asthma attacks after the construction of the Azot chemical plant, which had a negative impact on her career. Fedir Morgun, the first secretary of the Poltava Oblast Council at the time, fell in love with her profession, and doctors recommended her to leave the city. To bring her back home, he dispatched his colleagues Herman Yurchenko and Hryhoriy Levchenko. A new chapter in her artistic life as well as the life of Poltava the artist opened. The home at 40 Sichovykh Striltsiv Street in Kyiv, where she resided from 1997 to 2005, has a memorial plaque placed on its exterior. In addition to the sculpture of her placed on Raisa Kyrychenko Street outside the Public Poltava administration building on 13 October 2012, a memorial plaque was also placed on the home where she resided in Poltava on 13 October 2005.

Shevchenko National Prize (1986) People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1979) Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1973) Honorary Citizen of Baltimore (1983)

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