CULTURE: Six women bring the music of Ukraine to Westport

MUSIC can help keep the candle of hope burning in times of despair, and here in Mayo a group of young Ukrainian musicians are ensuring its flame burns bright blue and yellow.
No longer able to play in the now silent or destroyed concert halls of their war-stricken motherland, six young women are instead brining their musical gifts to the people of this county.
Performing under the name Ensemble Незламні (pronounced Nezlamni), meaning The Unbreakable Ensemble, the group played their first gig on August 24 as part of Westport’s Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations. A few weeks later, they sailed to Clare Island to perform at the local folk festival. At the end of this month, they will be back on the festival stage at the Westival, Westport’s annual music and arts festival.

‘Therapeutic’
Ian Leslie, a music therapist, professional musician and the group’s musical director, has been working with victims of war since he volunteered his services to local group Westport Welcomes Ukraine.
Given his line of work, it was suggested that he put a call-out to musicians who had just arrived from Ukraine. The result was the formation of The Unbreakable Ensemble, a temporary project that is now a permanent band.
Sitting in his petite studio at his Quay Road home, Ian describes their contribution to life in Mayo as ‘a cultural gift’.
“It’s not just that we’re giving them this and we’re giving them that. They are offering us something that, under normal circumstances, we never would have had a chance to have any exposure to,” the Dublin native tells The Mayo News.
Ian appreciates better than most the effect of music on the sick and the healthy.
As he says himself: “I think music in itself is therapeutic, no matter what way you label it.”
When Kseniia Maiboroda, Victoria Romanova, Kateryna Babarik, Inga Chumakova, Angelina Babich and Anastasia Balaba first gathered to rehearse, there was some apprehension, understandably.
Likewise, there were a few nerves before their first gig in front of their own people on Ukrainian Independence Day.
But their inhibitions evaporated – along with their thoughts of the horrors of the past year – from the moment they started playing.
“I have worked with a lot of musicians, and you get hugely different reactions on stages. Everything from really confident, to being really nervous, to glaring at each other if there’s a mistake,” explains Ian. “But these just looked as if they didn’t want to be anywhere else. They were so comfortable and happy on stage.”

‘Makes us stronger’
Just like that first gig in Westport, the group are slightly apprehensive when The Mayo News calls to interview them. But ten minutes into the conversation and smiles, jokes and laughter are bouncing around the tiny soundproof studio.
“It’s like a fresh breath for me personally,” laughs Inga. “Actually I’m really happy that I met all these people, and it’s kind of easy for us to cooperate together. We really appreciate that Irish audiences accept us, support us… this makes us stronger.”
We are not here to talk about the war and its effects on their careers, but, inevitably, it comes up.
Kseniia first went through it back in 2015 when she fled to Kyiv from the Donetsk region after Vladimir Putin sent his forces into her hometown.
She explained that this meant taking a ‘long break’ from playing music. “We actually had to grab first jobs to be able to survive in Ukraine, to rent a new apartment, to start everything from scratch, really there was no time to think about music.”
Now, Westport has turned out to be somewhere that these women can once again experience the escape that music can offer. With live-music bars and venues on every street, it’s hard to imagine a better place for these women to rebuild their shattered lives.
Angelina found that out from the moment she arrived here with her mother.
“We were walking around town, and we saw some pubs and we hear the music from the place and it was so great. I understand that I want to play music here,” she says.
“It’s so great. Every bar has a gig, every pub and people here are so musical. It’s so great,” chimes Victoria.

Unshakeable spirit
The Unbreakable Ensemble’s gig on Clare Island is one that neither the Ukrainian women nor the locals will ever forget.
The island’s Cistercian abbey was the setting for the group’s unique, vocal-driven blend of Ukrainian folk and Western pop.
Their rendition of ‘Óró Sé Do Bheatha ’Bhaile’ (‘Oh You’re Welcome Home’) – which references Granuaile – was delivered upon the very soil where the Pirate Queen now rests. The poignancy of it all brought tears to the eyes of one local man, and this reporter couldn’t leave the women’s company without hearing it for himself.
Led by Kateryna’s immaculate diction, the group’s profound rendition of this much-loved Irish song represents a musical marriage of two colonised nations.
Pondering the parallels between Irish and Ukrainian folk music, Kseniia says: “Ireland had its difficult periods in history, the same in Ukraine… this would be reflected in our music. And that’s why maybe there are some similarities.”
The group’s name, Ian explains, refers to the spirit of its members. It also captures the spirit of a people who continue to cherish their culture and identity in the face of Russian aggression – viewed by many as genocide – and its calamitous impact on both.
Kseniia puts it best: “They can’t stop us from being able to continue living our lives.”

The Unbreakable Ensemble will perform tonight, Friday, October 13, in The Clew Bay Hotel in Westport and at the Mariner Hotel as part of Westival on October 29.