[Interview] Taras Filenko Brings Ukraine’s Music and Cultural Memory to Seoul

A special concert marking the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence was held in Seoul on Aug. 19.

Co-hosted by the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Korea and the Department of Ukrainian Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, the concert, titled “Notes of Freedom,” featured a piano performance and lecture by renowned Ukrainian pianist and musicologist Dr. Taras Filenko.

The event took place at 7:30 p.m. in Gangnam, Seoul.

More than a conventional piano recital, the concert was designed to introduce the history of Ukrainian music as well as the national identity and culture embedded within it. The program offered a broad overview of Ukrainian musical traditions, spanning the late Baroque and Classical periods through Romanticism and contemporary music.

By combining musical performances with explanations of the historical and cultural contexts behind the works, the concert aimed to give Korean audiences a deeper understanding of Ukraine’s musical heritage and its historical background.

Dr. Filenko is a Ukrainian musicologist, pianist and organist. He graduated from the Kyiv National Academy of Music, where he later taught and served as vice dean of the Department of Conducting and Vocal Studies. He also earned doctoral degrees in historical musicology and ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh in the United States.

For more than four decades, Filenko has worked across music history, ethnomusicology, piano and organ performance, choral conducting and education, combining academic research with an active career as a performer. A central focus of his work has been introducing Ukrainian composers and their music to audiences around the world.

Since 2022, Filenko has continued to promote Ukrainian music and culture internationally through concerts, lectures and masterclasses. His performances go beyond piano recitals, often combining musical commentary with visual art, poetry and historical narratives. He has also actively collaborated with local artists in the countries he visits.

According to materials outlining his international activities, these performances are intended not only to introduce the diversity of Ukrainian culture to global audiences, but also to foster long-term cultural exchange and cooperation.

Filenko has performed and lectured in numerous countries, including the United States, India, Mexico, Armenia, Georgia and Colombia. In 2026, he continued his international activities with concerts and educational programs in Uganda, Kenya, Mauritius, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa and Mozambique.

Through the Seoul concert commemorating the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, Filenko shared with the audience how music can carry a nation’s history, memory and cultural identity across generations.

Ahead of the concert, we spoke with Dr. Filenko about the meaning of Ukrainian music, his efforts to introduce Ukrainian culture around the world, and the role that music and art can play during difficult times.

Q. This concert celebrates the 35th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. What does performing here in Seoul on this special occasion mean to you?

First of all, I’m very grateful to have this opportunity because, especially now, any event, concert, conference, or presentation of Ukrainian culture is extremely meaningful.

This is not just an ordinary concert. It is very important for Ukrainians to have opportunities like this, especially because Ukrainians have been deprived of their voices not only in recent times, but for centuries. It is important for us to share our knowledge, our experiences, and the depth of Ukrainian culture with the world.

I also try to create connections between Ukrainian culture and the cultures of the places I visit—not necessarily through comparison, but through a kind of integration or symbiosis.

For example, I was in China yesterday, where I invited musicians who play traditional Chinese instruments to perform with me. When I was in India, I invited Indian dancers to perform with Ukrainian music. And when I was in Botswana, I invited African drummers to perform alongside Ukrainian music.

I want to show that culture can be more than just a bridge or a connection between people. I would even describe it as an umbilical cord of humanity—something that connects us at a very fundamental level.

So this visit is extremely important to me. I have traveled to several countries in Asia, but I had never been to Korea before.

After the war began, my first concert was in San Diego in the United States. The next day, someone from a Korean church in Los Angeles called me and asked, “Could you give a concert for us?” So I went there.

Nearly 2,000 people attended. What was especially moving to me was seeing other artists and religious leaders come together and speak about Ukraine as though they already understood what was happening. The event was also broadcast to Korea and Ukraine, and they made one of the most generous donations we had received at that time.

That experience was very eye-opening for me.

I also have many Korean friends. When I was studying ethnomusicology, they told me a great deal about Korean culture and traditional Korean instruments. So finally being able to visit Korea has a very special meaning for me.

Q. You have spent many years introducing Ukrainian music to audiences around the world. What do you think makes Ukrainian music unique?

I would say that every culture has something special and unique about it. I don’t believe we can say that one culture is better than another. That is not the way I look at it.

What I want to do is present something that may still be unknown to much of the world, or cultural elements that have historically been suppressed or marginalized.

Ukraine, for a long time, existed under imperial domination. In such systems, the imperial power is placed at the center, while other cultures are often pushed to the margins.

But Ukraine has a very long history, dating back to the state of Kyivan Rus’, and its musical traditions have always been extremely important.

This is particularly significant when we think about oral traditions. When a culture is suppressed, there may be limited access to printing, education, or other institutional ways of preserving history. In those circumstances, people pass their history and culture from generation to generation orally—through music, art, and dance.

But first and foremost, through music, because songs and ballads can carry words, stories, and memories.

In fact, much of my own knowledge of Ukrainian history initially came through music.

So perhaps I would not necessarily call this a “uniqueness,” but rather an important facet of Ukrainian culture. You can find similar examples elsewhere in the world as well. In parts of Africa, for instance, when countries were subjected to colonial rule, people preserved and transmitted their cultures through oral and musical traditions.

This is actually something I am going to talk about during the concert today. Many Ukrainian composers incorporated folk elements into their works at times when expressions of Ukrainian cultural identity were heavily restricted.

Q. Is there one piece in today’s program that you especially hope the Korean audience will remember?

If there were only one piece I wanted people to hear, I would simply play one piece.

But tonight I have prepared around nine or ten pieces. I deliberately selected relatively short works because I wanted to present a broad panorama of Ukrainian music—from the late Baroque period through Classical, Romantic, Impressionist, and contemporary music.

My goal is not to focus on just one particular work, or even two or three pieces. I want to introduce works from different periods and show the broader development of Ukrainian musical culture.

I will also talk a little about why these different periods and pieces are important.

So in the end, it is really up to the audience to decide what they take away from tonight’s concert and which piece stays with them.

Q. Do you believe music can help preserve a nation’s identity and memory during difficult times?

I would say it does more than simply “help.” Music can be crucial.

It is extremely important not only for preserving cultural values, but also for developing them and restoring values that are inherent to a culture and a nation.

It is also about how a culture expresses itself. Of course, a nation can express itself through science, technology, and many other fields, but art is perhaps one of the most personal and meaningful forms of expression.

I believe music will be one of the most important elements in the future development of Ukraine.

And I don’t mean Ukrainian music in isolation. As I mentioned earlier, it is also important for Ukrainian music to connect with the music of the wider world.

Today, many non-Ukrainian elements are becoming an important and vibrant part of Ukrainian cultural life through collaboration. That is exactly what I am trying to do now—to bring cultures together and show how beautiful that interaction can be.

Q. I studied Ukrainian myself, so I had an interest in Ukraine even before the war. But I sometimes feel a little sad that many people became aware of Ukraine mainly because of the war. I hope people can learn much more about Ukrainian culture and the many other sides of Ukraine.

You mentioned something that I have also been thinking about a great deal.

There has been so much pain and loss in this world, including in my own life, but I believe we are here to celebrate—not to complain, not simply to cry, and not to turn inward, but to reach outward.

That is why I do what I do with a great deal of feeling in my heart. At the same time, I want to show the positive side.

This dark chapter will eventually be turned. We have to focus on what is good, what is positive, and what can bring us together.

Because none of us knows what may happen to us. What happened to Ukraine was something very few people expected. Suddenly, war came.

Unfortunately, tragedies like this can happen to any of us. That is why we have to push back against these kinds of destructive forces.

And I believe one way of doing that is through openness—through an open human mind and an open heart.

Too often, people divide the world into “this is mine” and “this is not mine,” or “this is ours” and “this is theirs.”

But we need to know one another better. We need to understand one another and learn to appreciate each other’s values.