The late 1500' and early 1600's were a period major conflict. Ukraine was constantly in conflict with its neighbours, initially the expansive Islamic Turkish empire and their Crimean vassals to the south, then the Polish Catholicism from the West. It was also a period of rapid cultural change.

In the 16oo's church brotherhoods were formed in various Ukrainian centres to educate new priests, deacons and lay persons. A critical part of their education was music. These young students composed new pieces of sacred and secular music that they often performed in small choral for the local population. Much of this music became the basis for the sacred and secular sections of the "Vertep" folk theatre. Many of these songs also stayed in the memory of the population as folk songs. This period was the foundation of a rich choral tradition of music and performance that has continued to this day.

Photo: 1902-Performers at the XIIth Archeological Conference in Kharkiv.

At approximately the same time the foundations for kobzar art were also laid. These became the traditions of the itinerant musician known as the kobzar based on epic forms known as dumy, sacred psalms and cants, historic and humourous songs. The kobzar was a professional musician who accompanied his singing with an instrument - usually bandura or kobza, or occasionally a lira (hurdy-gurdy).

In 1902 in Kharkiv an attempt was made to combine the two traditions together. This first performance by 14 men including 7 bandurists took place in August 1902 at the XIIth Archaeological Conference. It was extremely successful and marked a turning point in the history of the modern bandura..

Attempts to repeat the performance at the XIIth Archaeological Conference were stalled by the Tsarist administration. Nether the less, other ensembles were established in Kyiv in 1906, Okhtyrka 1911, Katerynodar in 1912, Moscow in 1914.

Photo: Moscow Bandurist Capella - directed by Vasyl Shevchenko.

A successful bandura group was also established in Katerynodar (now Krasnodar) in the Kuban (1913) and also in Rostov (1914).

In 1918 a group of 8 non-blind bandurists gathered together under the leadership of Vasyl Yemetz in Kyiv. Calling themselves "The Kobzar Choir" they began to rehearse in August and by November had given their first professional concert. This ensemble made up of 8 individual bandurists became the basis for the Kyiv Bandurist Capella.

Photo: The Kyiv Bandurist Capella (1925) - directed by M. Polotay

In 1922 Vasyl Yemetz organized a bandura school and later in 1923 a Second Bandurist Capella - this time while living in political emigration in Prague.

Photo: The Prague Bandurist Capella (1923)- directed by V. Yemetz

Other Bandurist Capellas were organized in the 1920's in other cities of Ukraine such as Poltava, Myrhorod, Kharkiv, Konotop. By the mid 20's the average number of performers in each of these groups grew to approximately 12.

Of the most popular and successful of these bandurist capellas was the Poltava Bandurist Capella which was organized in 1925 and disbanded in 1934. Under the direction of Hnat Khotkevych it rose to unsurpassed performance heights and was the first Soviet Ensemble to be invited to tour the United States in 1931.

Photo: The Poltava Bandurist Capella- (January, 1931)

In the 1930's the art form became so popular that there were some 900 bandurist capellas throughout Ukraine and in areas of Russia populated by Ukrainians. The art form had also spread to Western Ukraine (then under Polish administration) with groups in Lviv and Lutsk.

In the 1935 the main bandurist capella in Kyiv had grown to include 24 members.

With the outbreak of WWII the members of the Kyiv Bandurists Capella were mobilized and sent to the front. Many died in battle.

During the German occupation many of the members of the Kyiv Bandurist Capella formed a new ensemble which became known as the Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus. Under German occupation, the ensemble had much more artistic freedom than under the pervious regime, but in time the group was taken to Germany to perform in the slave worker camps made up of displaced from Eastern Europe.

At the end of the war the Shevchenko Bandurists Chorus remained for a number of years in Germany playing for the many Ukrainians living there in Displaced Persons camps. The bandura proved to be an extremely popular instrument and various other bandura groups were inspired by its perfromances. Another Capella named after Mykola Leontovych was formed in the English zone in the city of Goslar, a bandura quintet named after Ostap Veresai enjoyed great success and the choir of the first Ukrainian division was enhanced by 5 banduras.

In 1949 the Shevchenko Chorus emigrated as a group to the United States where it settled in Detroit. Here it continued to perform travelling of yearly tours around the cities with large Ukrainian emigrant populations. Other capellas were inspired by their concerts and were in Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Rochester and St Catharines.

The Canadian Bandurist Capella is a direct continuation of this tradition. It was initially established in Toronto in 1991 made up primarily of bandura students of Victor Mishalow. It went through various incarnations until it stabilized as an all male ensemble in 2001. Since 2001 it has given many concerts and performances and had over 300 rehearsals. The group has performed to very large audiences in Toronto, Windsor, London, St  Catharines, Oshawa, Hamilton, Sudbury, Montreal and Ottawa and is expanding in its performances repertoire, and professionalism.