Walter Klymkiw Musical Scores Collection

Cover of Hryhorii Ver'ovka's Ukrains'ki narodni pisni dlia khoru

 (Ukrainian folk songs for choirs)

The Walter Klymkiw Musical Scores Collection consists of several hundred musical scores and arrangements of Ukrainian folk, liturgical, classical and contemporary music. This unique collection was donated to the Elizabeth Dafoe Library’s Slavic Collection by the Walter Klymkiw Family in 2001.

 The late Walter Klymkiw served as the choral director of the renowned Winnipeg-based Olexander Koshetz Choir. During his nearly fifty years with the choir, Klymkiw and his choir toured throughout Canada, Ukraine, Poland, the Czech Republic, Western Europe, and South America. The choir went on to record two CDs, nine cassettes, and six records. For nearly half a century he maintained and developed contacts with Ukraine's composers and artists -- fostering a special relationship with Anatolii Avdievs'kyi (Avdievsky), director of the world famous Ver'ovka (Veriovka) Ukrainian State Folk Choir. Through his many travels, and the many contacts and friendships he established during his lifetime, Dr. Klymkiw was able to purchase and collect hundreds of musical scores, many of which he would utilize in his choir’s countless performances.  Included in the collection are the works and arrangements of such well-known Ukrainian composers, musicologists and conductors as Dmytro Bortnians’kyi (Bortniansky),  Mykola Lysenko, Filiaret Kolessa, Olexander Koshetz (Koshets’), Mykola Leontovych, Hryhorii Ver’ovka, Ihor Shamo, and Oleksandr Bilash.

This unique collection is available in the closed stacks of the Slavic Collection, and complements the Klymkiw Family Fonds held in the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections. Please ask the Slavic staff for assistance.