Western Illinois University Music Professor Compiles Work of Ukrainian Musicians in YouTube Channel
In the midst of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Western Illinois University professor is using his research abilities to bring the work of Ukrainian musicians to the world in one accessible form.
Professor Brian Locke has been working to create a YouTube catalog as a central link for Ukrainian music. He has created playlists of professional musicians already on YouTube, gathered by genre, composer or both. The YouTube page opens to a video by Locke explaining his project. The performances are then under the “playlists” header.
“My hope is to add introductory videos for the composers, artists, ensembles, venues, etc., as time permits, plus links to public-access performance materials, interviews with artists, and other new content,” he said.
Locke, a music historian, calls his collection the “Ukrainian Music Channel.” He said the idea came from looking inward to see how he could help during the suffering.
“My purpose in creating the Ukrainian Music Channel was to shine a spotlight on an aspect of Ukrainian culture and achievement: they have a rich history of music that is little known outside of specialists in Ukraine,” he said. “A few years ago, I came upon a treasure trove of Ukrainian art song recordings and, while these are already on YouTube, they were not easily accessible in one space. I took this as a starting point and went much further. My project is to bring hundreds of performances together for listeners wishing to discover this music in an organized and informative way.”
The hope is that the site can become a resource to expand musical interests, but also that it will inspire musicians around the world to perform, teach and reflect on the achievements in Ukrainian culture.
“I want to shine a spotlight on this music, not just for the moment, but for the future,” he said. “One of the most important driving forces behind this project is, of course, the current, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by its eastern neighbors. Ukraine’s people are in grave danger, just as all aspects of their culture are at risk during wartime. The people are unquestionably the most important priority, but there are also great treasures of art under the threat of bombs–historic places of worship, UNESCO World Heritage sites, and musical collections not the least of them.”
The collection Locke has assembled can be found at bit.ly/UkrainianMusicChannel.
Locke said he considered there may be many musicians stranded or fighting in Ukraine, possibly some of the artists he includes on his channel. He said he wanted to help them speak for themselves through their performance work.
“If you were to ask the average North American to name any Ukrainian music, they might–at best–come up with ‘Carol of the Bells’ (by Mykola Leontovych). I want to change this by expanding our knowledge, whether we are listeners, performers, or educators. Already I have had several requests to assist in locating Ukrainian music for local performances at WIU,” said Locke.
For more information on WIU’s School of Music, visit wiu.edu/som.
