Nina Matvienko Ukrainian singer Date of Birth: 10.10.1944 Country: Ukraine

1. Biography of Nina Matviyenko
2. Early Life and Career
3. Academic and Theatrical Achievements
4. Personal Life and Recognitions

Biography of Nina Matviyenko

Nina Matviyenko is a renowned Ukrainian singer, honored artist of Ukraine (1985), laureate of the State Prize of the Ukrainian SSR named after T.G. Shevchenko (1988), and Hero of Ukraine (2006). She was born on October 10, 1947, in the village of Nedelische, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. She was the fifth of eleven children in the family of Mytrofan Ustinovich and Antonina Ilkovna Matviyenko.

Early Life and Career

Nina Matviyenko attended a boarding school for children from large families in the village of Potiyivka, Radomyshl district, Zhytomyr Oblast. In 1968, after graduating from the vocal studio at the Ukrainian People's Choir named after G. Veriovka (vocal teacher: Yuliya Krotkevich), she became its soloist. She also collaborated with the vocal trio "Zoloti Klyuchi" (Golden Keys).

As a soloist of the choir, Matviyenko won the All-Ukrainian competition "Young Voices" (1978), the All-Union television competition "With a Song in Life" (1979), the World Folk Song Competition in Bratislava (1979), and the 12th World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow (1985). In 1979, she received the title of Honored Artist, and in 1985, she became a People's Artist of Ukraine. Since 1991, she has been a soloist of the National Ensemble of Soloists "Kyiv Kamerata". Her repertoire includes a wide range of folk songs, including ritual, lyrical, humorous, and ballad songs, as well as Ukrainian songs from the 17th and 18th centuries. Matviyenko also collaborates with well-known Ukrainian composers such as Yevhen Stankovych, Oleh Kiva, Myroslav Skoryk, Irina Kirilyna, Anna Havrilets, and others. She actively participates in concert tours and has successfully performed in many countries such as Poland, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Her works have been widely distributed on various media, from gramophone records to compact discs.

Academic and Theatrical Achievements

In 1975, Matviyenko graduated from the Philological Faculty of Kyiv University by correspondence and actively engaged in literary work. She is a professor at the Department of Musical Art at the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. Matviyenko has appeared in television productions ("Marusya Churay," "Yekaterina Belokur," "Waters Spill Over Four Fords"), feature films ("Not Even a Year Passes...," 1973; "Farewell, Pharaohs!," 1974; "Straw Bells," 1987), and radio plays ("Flight of an Arrow," "Clarinet of Tenderness"). In 1988, a video film titled "The Mermaid's Week" was released featuring Nina Matviyenko. Since 1989, she has been a member of the Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine. The singer has also provided voice-overs for several popular science and documentary films, as well as various TV and radio programs.

Matviyenko has performed in 16 plays with the New York theater La Mama E.T.C. Among her directorial works are the musical play "Under the Sun" (1997) featuring Japanese dancer Tadashi Endo, and the grandiose musical and stage performance "We Will Sow the Golden Stone" (1998). Since 2004, she has actively participated in the political life of the country.

Personal Life and Recognitions

In 1971, Nina Matviyenko married artist Petro Honchar (born 1949), the son of the famous Ukrainian folklorist and ethnographer Ivan Honchar. The couple has three children: sons Ivan (born 1973) and Andriy (born 1974), who followed in their father's footsteps as artists, and daughter Antonina (born 1981), who continues her mother's legacy. In 2005, Ivan Matviyenko became a monk. Matviyenko actively supports her daughter's career. She was awarded the highest honorary sign of the N.A. Kasyan International Prize Fund - the Order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in 1996. In 1997, Nina Matviyenko was honored with the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd class.

She is also a laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine named after T. Shevchenko (1988) and a Hero of Ukraine (with the presentation of the Order of the State on January 21, 2006, for her outstanding singing talent that awakens and magnifies the spiritual power of the Ukrainian people).