A CONDUCTOR'S FIGHT FOR HER COUNTRY

A Ukrainian female conductor that I discovered when doing the previous Blog on Illia Ovcharenko  (Photo to left) is OKSANA YAROSLAVIVNA LYNIV. Known for her exceptional combination of precision and artistic temperament in conducting, Oksana is a prominent figure on the international stage and ranks among the leading conductors of this generation.

Even a few years ago, female conductors were rare, but recently, more and more successful female conductors are emerging in the international stage and Oksana is nurturing female assistant conductors to support female conductors.

 The first Ukrainian conductor to step onto the Metropolitan Opera stage in 141 years, Oksana is working hard to make the plight of her country kown to the world, especially the importance of US aid to her homeland.

She was born in 1978 in Brody. She is the daughter of two musicians and the granddaughter of a choral conductor. Her father is also a choral conductor.

In her youth, she studied piano, flute, violin and singing. From 1992 to 1996, she studied flute and conducting at the Stanislav Liudkevych Music School in Lviv. She first conducted an orchestra at age 16, which aroused her interest in conducting.

 From 1996 to 2003, she was a conducting student at the Lysenko music academy in Lviv, and during her studies, Oksana became an assistant conductor at Lviv Opera to Myron Yusypovych. She founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine in 2016. She became principal guest conductor of the Leopolis Chamber Symphony Orchestra in 2003.

She conducted the 2021  opening of the Bayreuth Festival, a new production of Der fliegende Holländer, as the first female conductor at the festival.  Oksana has been the Music Director of Teatro Comunale di Bologna since 2022, making her the first female chief conductor of an Italian opera house.

She has been very vocal on the effects of the crises in her country. “War injures everyone and every day a state of moral and physical exhaustion also breeds a feeling of powerlessness, aggression and anger. It is very important for all of us, in Ukraine and abroad, to be able to gather, consolidate all efforts to fight the enemy and communicate with the world about Ukraine as a state.” 

She has shared the horrifying situation which members of the Ukraine Youth Orchestra she founded face. Some of their family members have died and some face daily danger from the war. Under these circumstances, she couldn’t help but alter her perspective on music.

“Friends died, buildings crumbled, and, experiencing death every day, I wanted to stop it. I couldn't understand how people could try to eliminate each other, how one country could bomb another. It became a personal issue for me. Now, music is no longer abstract. It has become directly relevant to me," she said, adding that when she performs Verdi's "Requiem" now, it's not just because it's a famous masterpiece. "It makes me naturally think of the victims.”

“Art is not just mere entertainment. It is a process of asking questions and seeking answers to understand what is happening in the world, and it is an act of healing the soul,” she emphasized.

 In 2022, after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Oksana became a co-initiator of the cooperation project "Music for the Future," an evacuation music camp for young Ukrainian musicians in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oksana Lyniv emerged as a dedicated cultural ambassador of her country. She passionately advocates for the performance of Ukrainian composers on international stages.

"One of the God's greatest gifts to people is the gift of choice. And it is this question of choice that is relevant to me every day. Every evening I ask myself what I lived today for? The most important thing for me is to be a co-creator of my life, the life of our (and my) country and so that of our entire civilization."