‘We shall overcome someday’

For Ukrainian pianist, musicologist and cultural historian Taras Filenko, music carries a message of resistance, identity and, ultimately, hope.

Speaking with The Korea Herald in Seoul after a concert commemorating the 35th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, Filenko expressed hope that Ukraine would regain its sovereignty and that cultural understanding could help build a more peaceful world.

“We shall overcome one day,” Filenko said, invoking the gospel song that became associated with the US civil rights movement and a symbol of identity and resilience.

“We will win eventually.”

For Filenko, the answer lies not in weapons or militarism, but in cultural dialogue that celebrates each country’s poetry, dance and achievements.

“Every culture has been suppressed, and every culture suffers. What is happening now in Ukraine happened in Korea many years ago,” he said.

According to the Ukrainian Embassy in Seoul, Filenko has performed around the world, including in Mozambique, Botswana and North Korea, and in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, while promoting Ukrainian culture and introducing international audiences to its composers and musicians.

The Seoul concert, titled “Melodies of Freedom: A Journey Through Ukrainian Musical Culture,” traced Ukraine’s musical heritage through works by composers from different periods.

It began with Dmytro Bortnyansky’s Sonata in C Major for Fortepiano or Clavichord. The program continued with Mykola Lysenko’s Elegy, Op. 41, No. 3; “Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes: Dumka-Shumka”; and Yakiv Stepovy’s “Prelude in Memory of Taras Shevchenko.”

Filenko also played compositions by Lev Revutsky, Fedir Akimenko, Viktor Stepurko and Myroslav Skoryk, including Skoryk’s celebrated Melody, before concluding with an improvisation, Carol of the Bells and Beyond.

Filenko said his work as an ethnomusicologist has reinforced his belief in cultural exchange, including through his encounters with Korean culture.

“I really enjoy my friends from Korea because they show me a completely different world that I didn’t know,” he said.

“People are really, really good everywhere, and this is my message.”