V. Vakulenko/ Е. Orkin "Татусева Книга/ Daddy's Book" (2023), Oksana Lyniv, Brussels - ENG/UKR

E.Orkin: Cantata «Daddy’s book» (Tatuseva knyga)

Philip Kelz - story teller
Yuliia Tkachenko - soprano
Valentina Pluzhnikova - mezzo-soprano
Andrii Bondarenko - baritone

Girls choir "Vognyk"
Boys choir "Dzvinochok"
Choirmasters - Ruben Tolmachov, Olena Solovey
Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine/YSOU
Oksana Lyniv - conductor

The cantata “Daddy's Book” by Evgeni Orkin was commissioned in 2023 by renown Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv. The piece is based on texts by Volodymyr Vakulenko, a well-known Ukrainian activist, novelist and author of children's poems.

Volodymyr Vakulenko was tortured and killed near Kharkiv in December 2022.

In his personal diary he kept the painful and truthful records of the beginning of the full-scale invasion till his very own abduction. Anticipating his imprisonment by the Russians, the writer buried the diary in his own garden. Only Volodymyr's father knew about this place.
In September 2022, the writer Victoria Amelina joined the search for Volodymyr together with the Truth Hounds NGO, which documented war crimes and passed the materials to Ukrainian law enforcement and international institutions.
She found the diary in Volodymyr's garden, revised and published it. A few days after the public presentation of the diary, on June 27, she was wounded during a russian missile attack on Kramatorsk and unfortunately died on July 1, 2023.

In the cantata, two opposite worlds meet: the reality of the military occupation of a small town between Kharkiv and Donezk and the fragile peaceful world where children grow up in outside war zones.
The narrator reads extracts from Volodymyr Valulenko’s personal diary written during the military occupation. The three soloists represent witnesses describing the events around the author’s death. The children’s choirs illustrate the pre-war world in the colourful language the author used in his poems dedicated to his neurodivergent son.

"A war robs children of their right to childhood and free development, and this traumatic experience will remain with them for the rest of their lives. Their childhood is already effectively lost. They themselves share in interviews that they do not wish for anyone to know what it is like to fear for their lives when bombs are exploding over their heads. They convey this message both verbally and through music.
Losing artists and authors is also a significant tragedy of war. We must do everything possible to ensure that they are not forgotten."
Oksana Lyniv

«…Volodya lives on in his work and in his writings. And he lives in my heart.»
Olena Ihnatenko, mother of Volodymyr Vakulenko

Live recording of the world premiere on 5.09.2023 in BOZAR, Brussels, Belgium
Mixing- & Mastering engineer - Hari Yim

Project was implemented with support of BOZAR, Belgian Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs, Foreign trade & Development Cooperation, Festival LvivMozArt, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Kingdom of Belgium, Ridni Foundation, Youth center Destelheide, Ministry of culture and information policy of Ukraine, and with kind help of Volodymyr's mother Olena Ihnatenko and Volodymyr's publishing houses Vivat and The Old Lion Publishing House.

The world premiere of the piece took place on September 5, 2023, under the patronage of the President of the European Commission, Mrs. Ursula von der Leyen, at the Centre for Fine Arts BOZAR in Brussels. The opening speech for the event was given by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, Hadja Lahbib.

Видео V. Vakulenko/ Е. Orkin "Татусева Книга/ Daddy's Book" (2023), Oksana Lyniv, Brussels - ENG/UKR канала LvivMozArt