Toronto Bandura Festival presents Bandura on Bloor #6, featuring Ukrainian bandura virtuoso Georgiy Matviyiv with Toronto bandurist Ron Demeda.
The performance will be followed by a post-concert reception for all the guests and performers!
All net proceeds will be donated to the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Ontario Branch, supporting our work to preserve and share Ukrainian art, history and cultural heritage.
This event is organized and presented by the Toronto Bandura Festival.
Last chance to see Testament • Zapovit at the Museum!
Georgiy Matviyiv is a professional bandurist, virtuoso, composer, and Doctor of Philosophy in Music Art (Bandura), laureate of international competitions, and inventor of the latest methods of playing the bandura. Soloist of the Ukrainian National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments (NAONI) in Kyiv, Ukraine from 2018 to 2023. Soloist of the Ensemble of Ukrainian Music, Song and Dance “Chaika” at the Odesa Philharmonic Theatre in Odesa, Ukraine from 2006 to 2018. In 2012, Georgiy became the first and so far the only participant from Ukraine in the “European Jazz Orchestra 2012” – an international project by the founders of the Eurovision Song Contest where musicians were selected according to the principle of “one musician from one European country”. Has performed at EXPO 2020 Dubai, Palace “Ukraine”, National Opera of Ukraine, & National Philharmonic of Ukraine, and at over 500 concerts as a soloist and ensemble member from 2007-2023. Bandura instructor at the Odesa Conservatory from 2011 to 2018. An author of scholarly articles. In 2021, he defended his candidate’s thesis and received a Doctorate in Art Criticism for Bandura from the Odesa Conservatory. Recipient of a Grant of the President of Ukraine (2021) for the creation and implementation of the creative project “Bandura in Jazz”. Winner of more than 30 academic and bandura competitions and festivals.
Ron Demeda is a long-standing bandurist, instrumentalist, and instructor of bandura in the Toronto area. An accomplished bandura soloist, Ron has performed at countless concert events in the Toronto area, across Southern Ontario, New York, Vegreville, Alberta, and at the Chervona Ruta festival in Ukraine. For many years, Ron performed at Toronto’s International Caravan Festival’s Odesa, Kyiv, and Kolomyia pavilions, and also as a regular at the Ukrainian Caravan Restaurant in Toronto. Ron is currently the Concertmaster of the Canadian Bandurist Capella in Toronto, performing with them regularly at concerts in the Toronto area, around Ontario, and most recently on their 25th Anniversary concert tour of Eastern Canada. He also scores musical arrangements for many of their songs. Ron is also the Musical Director and instructor of the St. Demetrius Bandura School in Etobicoke, providing lessons to students of all ages since 1983. Ron has led bandura lessons at the St. Volodymyr Institute in Toronto (1989-1994), St. Sophia in Mississauga (1989-1990), as well as the UNO West Ridna Shkola in Toronto (1989-1991). He has performed as a member of the St. Demetrius Bandura Ensemble, the Barvinok Bandura Ensemble under Mr. Petro Boris, the Hnat Khotkevych Bandurists’ Ensemble and Bandura Quartet under director Walentyna Rodak, and since 2022 as a member of the Canadian Bandurist Capella. In addition to being an accomplished bandurist, Ron is also a proficient tsymbalyst, accordionist, and singer as a member of the St. Demetrius Quartet.