Ukrainian Ensemble Kerbassy Frames Folk Song as Cultural Resistance at Hinckley Forum

Kerbassy, a vocal ensemble from Lviv, described how performing centuries-old Ukrainian folk songs sustains cultural identity and acts as a form of resistance during a Hinckley Forum at the University of Utah.

"Our voice, especially through prism of culture, was always suppressed," a member of Kerbassy said during the Nov. 5 forum. The ensemble explained that songs passed down orally — lullabies, calendar songs and ritual music — carry practical knowledge and emotional memory that written records alone do not preserve.

The group traced its origins to the Lehi Korbas Theater in Lviv, where actors sang together after rehearsals and gradually developed a professional ensemble over 20 years. "Sometimes you feel that you literally fall in love with a song," a Kerbassy member said, describing how songs collected from elders, archives and fieldwork are arranged…