Semyon Stepanovich Hulak-Artemovsky (born 4 (16) February 1813, Horodyshche - 5 (17) April 1873, Moscow) - Ukrainian composer, singer, baritone (bass baritone), dramatic artist, playwright, nephew of writer PP Hulak-Artemovsky, author of one of the first operas on the Ukrainian-language libretto of the opera "Zaporozhets over the Danube" (Cossack Beyond the Danube"). The fate of Semyon Hulak-Artemovsky was decided by his beautiful voice. In 1838, when Hulak-Artemovsky was stu

According to contemporary accounts, Hulak-Artemovsky based the libretto on a story by the historian Mykola Kostomarov The composer wrote nearly all of libretto, although some poetic phrasings are attributed to his good friend, the journalist V. Sykevych. The story depicts the events following the destruction of the island fortress of Zaporozhian Sich, the historic stronghold of the Ukrainian Cossacks on theDnieper River. To tell the story of the freedom-loving Zaporozhian Cos

Michal Dawson Connor (Ivan Karas, a Zaporozhian Cossack) Michal Dawson Connor is an accomplished performer and composer of choral, chamber, and solo vocal works, with a particular emphasis on Slave songs created before the Civil War. He was born in Jamestown, New York and is proud alumnus of Carnegie-Mellon University, and L’Ecole Hindemith in Vevey, Switzerland – where he studied voice with Blake Stern and Helen Boatwright. Championing American composers has always been a h

Independent Opera Company concludes its tenth season with Cossack Beyond the Danube, a classic Ukrainian opera by Hulak-Artemovsky. This opera is not well known to non-Ukrainian speaking audiences, and yet it's been a constant hit in both Russia and Ukraine ever since it premiered in Saint Petersburg in 1863. The opera tells the story of the challenging fate of the Ukrainian people and their eternal quest for freedom. These important and relevant topics are set to delightful