2025 Musical CO-directors
oleh sozansky
Oleh Sozansky is a bandurist, Honored Artist of Ukraine, teacher, and artist.
He learned to play the bandura from Professor Vasyl Gerasimenko. He has two different ways of playing the "Kyiv" and "Kharkiv" type banduras. He presents his performance skills as a solo performer, a member of the duet
"Bandurna rozmova" and as a soloist accompanied by chamber and symphony orchestras.Since 2000, Oleh Sozansky has been a teacher of the department of folk instruments at the S.Krushelnytska Lviv State Music Lyceum. Since 2017, he has also been the director of the Vasyl Slipak Competition of Young Vocalists.
TERYN KYTASTY-KUZMA
Teryn is an NYC-based professional soprano and bandurist who specializes in classical, contemporary, musical theater, and folk repertoire. Teryn grew up within the incredible North American bandura community, where so much of her musicianship was nurtured from a young age.She is a founding member and the current Concertmaster of the Women's Bandura Ensemble of North America, and is the Artistic Director of the newly revived New York School of Bandura alongside Zoya Shepko. She is also the founder of Bandura for the Future (a new fundraising initiative in partnership with Ukraine Matters), which fundraises for several Ukrainian humanitarian aid organizations through private and public bandura concerts.
NICK sMEREKA-Hladio
JBW Director
Nick is currently a music teacher for Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas. He is also an active member of Korinya Folk Band and the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America (Українська Капеля Бандуристів Північної Америки ім. Т. Шевченка). Nick was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he graduated from Duquesne University with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education. He is an experienced musician and performer with backgrounds as a bassist, educator, singer, conductor, and sound technician.
Administrative team
Julian Hayda
Marketing & Strategic Partnerships Lead
Julian's heart has been tied up with Kobzarska Sich since 2005. Throughout the year, he's associated director of public engagement at Razom for Ukraine. Before that, he served as Coordinating Producer for NPR in Ukraine, managing a team of journalists telling the story of Ukraine’s defense against Russia before 30 million daily listeners. He first attended Kobzarska Sich in 2005, and performed with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus from 2010 to 2018. Julian is particularly interested in the Kobzar tradition, Ukrainian baroque, and the ways those genres still have philosophical relevance to contemporary social Justice movements. He holds an M.A. in International Studies from DePaul University and a B.A. in Journalism and Film Production, also from DePaul.
Christina Hlutkowsky
Administrative Lead
Christina Hlutkowsky has been attending Kobzarska Sich since 2004 as a camper, counselor, and bandura instructor. She has been singing and playing bandura since age 10. Chrystia has taught private bandura lessons in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and at ODUM's Bandura Camp in London, Ontario. She holds a master's degree in Clinical Child Psychology from the Pennsylvania State University, where she is working on her doctorate. Chrystia is also a member and President-Elect of the Women's Bandura Ensemble of North America and has sung with the Zorya Ukrainian Female Vocal Ensemble in Cleveland, Ohio.
Sophia Charron
Social Media Lead
Sophia was thrown into Kobzarska Sich in 2014 and hasn’t left since. She’s been singing and playing music in a liturgical setting since childhood but she’s so grateful to have been given the opportunity to learn to play bandura at Sich. She has sang with the Zorya Women’s Ensemble of Cleveland and recently finished a degree in politics and philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville.
Lesia Mahlay
Archivist and Alumni Relations Lead
Lesia knows All Saints Camp very well, first attending as a camper back in 2000, and working as a counselor, kitchen hand, and maintenance staff over the years. She’s worked with kids at camps, classrooms, churches, retreats — everywhere from Emlenton to Indonesia. While she hasn’t picked up a bandura in quite some time, she is involved with the Hryhory Kytasty Cleveland School of Bandura, helping with administrative work. She’s looking forward to spending some time at Kobzarska Sich, listening to the echo of the bandura in the steppes of the Allegheny!
Mykola Murskyj
Mykola Murskyj is Director Advocacy at Razom for Ukraine, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping build a democratic and prosperous Ukraine. He also serves as Archivist of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America. He earned his Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University in 2017, writing his dissertation on Russia-Ukraine conflict. He was a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow with the Department of Homeland Security HQ in Washington, D.C., as well as at the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs. He has also been a lecturer in the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. Murskyj also holds master's degrees in physics from MIT and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
MAYA KYTASTY-KUZMA
Maya Kytasty-Kuzma has been a member of the Kobzarska Sich family since 2003 and is excited to step into the role of Assistant Camp Director. Maya is a Human Services and Social Work student at Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut. Outside of academics, she is a ballroom and Latin dance instructor, with years of experience teaching individuals of all ages. Maya also instructs at Bandura at Bobriwka music workshop every summer alongside her family. Her fondest childhood memories are from being a camper in the Junior Bandura workshop and watching her mother teach at Kobzarska Sich.
KHRYSTYNA MASNYTSKA
Khrystyna has been involved with camp as both a camper and counselor since 2022. Although she is a relatively new member of the Sich family, she is actively engaged in her community through the bandura. Since 2022, she has served as an intern at the Archives of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America, where she enjoys exploring the rich history of the bandura. She also works with the Ukrainian American Archives and Museum in Detroit, contributing to its cultural and historical efforts. Currently, Khrystyna is a student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, studying Political Science and Criminal Justice.
Board of directors
Mykola Murskyj
Mykola Murskyj is Director Advocacy at Razom for Ukraine, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping build a democratic and prosperous Ukraine. He also serves as Archivist of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America. He earned his Master in Public Policy degree from Harvard University in 2017, writing his dissertation on Russia-Ukraine conflict. He was a U.S. Presidential Management Fellow with the Department of Homeland Security HQ in Washington, D.C., as well as at the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs. He has also been a lecturer in the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics at the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv, Ukraine. Murskyj also holds master's degrees in physics from MIT and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
Nick Deychakiwsky
Mykola (Nick) began his bandura studies in 1972 with Hryhory Kytasty in Cleveland,
Ohio.He played with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus of North America between 1974
and 1991, and again since 2017. From 2021 he serves as its Concertmaster. Since the
mid-1970s, Mykola has taught bandura privately, has been an instructor at numerous
bandura camps (including the first KS in 1979) and the music director of several of
them. Currently he is the administrator of the Detroit School of Bandura. Mykola has
written numerous arrangements and compositions for bandura ensembles. He holds Bachelor's Degree in Music Theory from Baldwin Wallace University and a Master of
Music Degree in Choral Conducting from Kent State University. He also has an MBA
from Columbia University and is a Senior Program Officer at the Charles Stewart Mott
Foundation.
CHRYSTYNA NAZAREWYCZ-silecky
Chrystyna is an advocate for Ukrainian culture and education. Born and raised in Chicago,
Chrystyna was influenced by her parents' love for music. She was inspired by her father’s
involvement with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus and is encouraging her son's interest in the
bandura through Kobzarska Sich. Chrystyna led the formation of a Plast (Ukrainian Scouting
Organization) group in Pittsburgh. She serves as the Head of the School Board and teacher for
Ridna Shkola, a Ukrainian heritage school in Pittsburgh.Chrystyna is a CPA and an MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Illinois working in Public Accounting and specializing in tax.
Larissa Fedoryka
Larissa Fedoryka has been playing cello since the age of three and soon after began
performing with her siblings in the Fedoryka Family Ensemble. Since then, her music
has taken her around the world, touring with the Hollywood Concert Orchestra in China
and Japan, playing with community ensembles in Hungary and Austria, as well as performing solo and with various groups across America. She was introduced to the Kobzarska Sich family in 2022 when she joined the Bandura Camp as their Artist in Residency. Larissa received her Masters and Doctorate in Performance from University of
California Santa Barbara in 2018. Since then she has been teaching cello and beginner
violin privately, coaching small strings ensembles and performing in her house concert
series "Painting with Music".
Motria Poshyvanyk Caudill
Dr. Motria Poshyvanyk Caudill is a founding member of the Chicago Bandura Ensemble and the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America. She learned to play bandura from her father, Oleksiy Poshyvanyk, who directed the ODUM Youth Bandura Ensemble of Chicago throughout the 1980s. Motria established and directs the Chicago School of Bandura, where she passes down musical traditions of the Ukrainian diaspora to her own daughters and many other children in their community. Motria’s kids and students have attended multiple bandura summer camps, including Kobzarska Sich, as she did before them. Motria works as a public health scientist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and has taught courses in her field at DePaul and Loyola
Universities.
Marko Farion
Dr. Marko Farion is a dentist, bandurist, bass soloist. He received bandura and vocal training from Hryhory Kytasty. He studied music and voice at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and the Cleveland Institute of Music, and obtained his Doctor of Dental Surgery from CWRU as well.His accomplishments include performances and recordings with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus (UBC), the Detroit Concert Choir, the Millennium Choir, and the Detroit Opera Theatre Chorus.He has traveled the globe with his bandura giving performances and teaching at workshops and music camps in North America, South America, Europe including several tours in Ukraine. He was an instructor at the first KS in 1979 and Administrator from 1983-1996.Founding member and first Musical Director of the HK School of Bandura, and ran the CYM Bandura School in Detroit, he is currently on staff at the Detroit School of Bandura and Bandura at Bobriwka in Connecticut. Marko has also served on various boards including the UBC (Executive, Artistic Council,President), Ukrainian Cultural Center, Immaculate Conception Schools and Ukrainian Educational Association. He has several solo releases which are available on all digital platforms.