Hryhoriy Veryovka

Hryhoriy Huriyovych Veryovka (Григорій Гурійович Верьовка, – 21 October 1964) was a Soviet and Ukrainian composer and choir director.

He is best known for founding the renowned Veryovka Choir in 1943, and leading it for many years, gaining international recognition and winning multiple awards. Veryovka was also a professor of conducting at the Kyiv Conservatory, where he worked alongside faculty including Boleslav Yavorsky, Alexander Koshetz, Mykola Leontovych, and Mykhailo Verykivsky.

Career
Veryovka was born in an old Cossack town of Berezna (today urban-type settlement). In 1916 he graduated from the Chernihiv Theological Seminary. In 1918–21 Veryovka studied at the Lysenko music school (a predecessor of the Kyiv Conservatory) studying a musical composition by Boleslav Yavorsky, conducting by Aleksander Orlov. In 1933 he received an external degree from the institute.

From 1923 to 1927 Veryovka continued to work at the Lysenko Institute and later from 1931 to his death at the Kyiv Conservatory. During World War II in 1941–45 he was a scientist of the Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folklore and Ethnology.

In 1943 in Kharkiv, Veryovka organized his well known choir and until his death was its art director and a main conductor. In 1948–52 he headed the National Union of Composers of Ukraine.

Upon his death in 1964 he was buried in Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv, and in 1967 a monument was erected at the site of his burial in his honor.

Awards and honors

 * He was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1948.
 * He was awarded the People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1960.
 * He was awarded the Shevchenko National Prize in 1968.
 * There are streets named after him in Kyiv and Bucha.