This man – Virko Baley, was born in Radekhov in the Lviv region a year before the beginning of the Second World War, and today he is known on all continents of the world as a famous Ukrainian-American conductor, pianist and composer.
October 21, 2023 is the anniversary of Virk Baley. And although he is now far away – across the ocean, he is loved and appreciated here in Ukraine.
But, first, a few words about how difficult it was for Virko Baley to achieve his success.
Let me start with the fact that during the war, his family (and he was the only son of Peter and Lidia Baley, natives of Radekhiv) left for Slovakia, and from there to Munich, and for more than two years (from 1947 to 1949) lived in a camp for displaced persons in Regensburg. And it was in that resettlement camp that Virko Baley began to learn to play the piano. His mother took special care of this, and hired the well-known Lviv pianist Roman Savytskyi to teach their son.
And, already in six months of such training, young Virk (Viroslav) Baley has awakened a considerable talent. He soon graduated from the Los Angeles Conservatory (1962) and became a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In a word, Virko Baley is incredibly talented. And what particularly impressed me about him is that he (Virko Baley) across the ocean – “in the worlds”, as our grandmothers used to say – is not only not ashamed of his Ukrainianness, but also promotes Ukrainianness in the world as much as possible. He succeeds best in popularizing in the USA and in Western Europe the creative work of Ukrainian composers of the 20th century, which is little known there.
Perhaps you remember the film based on the script of Serhii Parajanov “Swan Lake. The Zone”, which won the Cannes Film Festival award..? So, the music for this tape was written by our native of Galicia, Virko Baley (and he even became the producer of this film). He also wrote the music for Yuri Illienko’s well-known film “Prayer for Hetman Mazepa”.
And, in conclusion: I think that every Ukrainian who is in love with Ukrainian music and our cinema sincerely wishes our incomparable overseas maestro long life and inexhaustible creativity.
Mykola Bandrivskyi