Abstract 

The bandura, a large, lute-like instrument, is Ukraine’s national instrument and a symbol of resistance. The bandura developed from the kobza, a smaller lute-like instrument over the centuries. After the massacre of the kobzars – nomadic​,​ often blind​,​ musicians and storytellers who played the bandura or its predecessor – by the Soviets in the 1930s, the instrument was brought to the United States​​. Since then, ensembles have formed across the country, and bandura communities continue to this day. This project aims to explore modern Ukrainian American musical identity by digitizing musical programs from the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America (WBENA) from their founding in 2015 to today in an archive. This archive, powered by the Wax framework, will include recordings where available as well as tags for composers, country of origin, themes, tempo, genre, presence of religion, and language. The team will be working closely with a member of the ensemble for acquisition, publication, and context of the programs and will proceed in publication of this archive only with tacit approval from the whole ensemble​​.

Intended Audience

This archive is intended to be used as an educational resource for anyone interested in Ukrainian culture, musical programming, and ethnomusicology.

The Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America 

​​​​​This project will publish the programs of the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America (WBENA) from its founding in 2015 to the present on its own dedicated website. The ensemble is comprised of twenty-one women from seven different cities across the United States and Canada. The WBENA was chosen to examine the song choices of a North American bandura ensemble as well as the song choices of an all-female bandura ensemble. The bandura is largely considered a male-coded instrument due to the kobzars traditionally being male. Even in the year 2000, the bandura community widely considered a woman playing dumy, or Ukrainian epic poetry songs, to be inappropriate, and women ensembles were near impossible to find in North America. (Ostashewski 143). 

Overview of Project 

For this project, PDFs for each program will be uploaded to the site and more information provided on each document and song performed via Wax, a Jekyll based website framework. The website will contain collections for both the Programs and Songs generated by a csv file with relevant information obtained by the project’s Researchers. Wax was selected because it is free to use, can be deployed for free through GitHub Pages, and is lightweight given the project’s relatively small file footprint.  

For each program, the website will provide a PDF that the user can flip through as well as the date(s), location(s), performers, and if applicable collaborators. Each program will also list the songs performed (roughly 10 – 15 per performance), each of which will have their own page detailing where applicable the composer, the year / time period published, the country of origin, language, genre(s), tempo, lyrics, and themes.  

​​When it comes to tagging songs, the Team will avoid forcing a particular song into a rigid framework. A song may not have one strictly defined place / time of origin or may have nuances in its themes that cannot be replicated. While the Wax framework requires some efficiency, the project requires the team to avoid reductiveness and respect the nonscalable aspects of songs harkening from a centuries old oral tradition (Rawson and Muñoz).  

The first phase will focus on deploying the website with two programs and respective song pages populated as a minimum viable product. Throughout the process, the team will meet with the WBENA in order to ensure that the website receives their approval. As Christen and Anderson advocate in “Toward Slow Archives,” the team will focus on their relationship with the community of origin (the WBENA), ensuring that the ensemble has the right to refusal concerning what is published about their repertoire, their history, and their performances (107). The team aims to collaborate with the ensemble rather than to speak for them. 

Work Plan 

Overview 

The first phase of the project serves to deploy a minimum viable product version of the site. Over the Spring semester (February to mid-May 2025), the team will launch the website on GitHub Pages containing two program pages and pages for each song within those programs. An About section will also be provided with a brief overview of the project, any necessary historical or cultural context, and names of the contributors. 

The second and third phases of this project will occur outside of the DHUM 7002 Methods and Practices course. During these phases, the Project Lead will add the remaining programs into the existing framework and, once all are provided, provide research and context for the remaining songs.  

Below are the proposed steps to Phase 1 of the project:  

February to March 2025 – Song Research 

The first month of the project is dedicated to compiling notes for the two programs and approximately 20 songs, split amongst the two researchers. For programs, the researchers will record the name of the concert, its location(s), the date(s), any collaborators if applicable, the performers’ names, the song titles, any other notes, and the PDF file path. For songs, the researchers will record where available the title, composer, original year or period, language, location of origin, genre, themes, tempo, description, YouTube link, lyrics, and soloists. The researchers will also be free to record any other relevant or interesting information that they find for the song. Given that the team will unlikely be able to read in Ukrainian, interviews with the WBENA will be essential for this research.  

Late March to Early April 2025 – Backend Development 

Towards the end of the Research step, the Backend Developer will begin assembling the csv structure that will power the site. Towards the end of the Backend Development period, the Backend Developer will work with the Frontend Developer to confirm the information provided  for the user interface. The Developers will also generate and briefly deploy sample pages at this time to ensure that the csv is connected properly / show to the WBENA.  

April 2025 – Frontend Development 

Towards the end of the Backend development step, the Frontend Developer will begin designing the aesthetics for the site, with the Researchers aiding in finding images if necessary. The Frontend Developer will also collaborate with the Backend Developer to ensure that all the information required for this design is available to them. The Frontend Developer will then collaborate with the Content Editor to synthesize the content for the site. They will program the user interface, briefly deploying samples of the site periodically to ensure that the site behaves as expected on deployment. 

May 2025 – Revisions, Testing, and Deployment 

After the completion of Frontend Development, the team will take the WBENA through the MVP of the site and resolve any edits provided. Once the site has received WBENA approval, the team will test all pages and links locally before deploying the site and testing all pages and links publicly for bugs or errors.  

Phase 1 Note 

Throughout the development process, the team will be in contact with a representative of the WBENA to ensure that they have the Ensemble’s explicit approval, particularly during the Research and Frontend Development portions. Should the Ensemble be in disagreement on how to proceed with a particular element, the Team will negotiate until an agreement can be reached. Any possible elements requested by the WBENA will be accommodated, and the WBENA has final say on any element of the site. Our liaison, Teryn Kuzma, has relayed the project to the WBENA, who have shared their excitement.

Staff / Partners 

We’ll need the following roles for this project, though I anticipate that several will be doubled up and / or involve mentor / mentee work with other members. I have previously built a website using Wax, so I foresee no major technical issues for this website.

Project Lead

The Project Lead will keep track of the team’s progress to ensure that they stay on schedule and will act as point of contact for the WBENA.

Backend Developer 

The Backend Developer will create a basic csv-based infrastructure for the site from the Researchers’ findings and provide the internal database from which the Frontend Developer will create the site design.  The Developer will use / learn how to use the Wax framework as well as some basic Javascript.

Frontend Developer 

The Frontend Developer will be responsible for the aesthetic design of the website and will program the graphical user interface (GUI) using HTML and CSS. They will coordinate with the Backend Developer to ensure that the infrastructure is optimized for the GUI. The Frontend Developer will use / learn Markup language, HTML, CSS, and potentially some JavaScript. They may also use any Design software of their choice should they wish.

Researchers (ideally 2) 

The Researchers will compile notes on the programs and songs from which the Back-End Developer will create the site’s database.   

Content Editor 

The Content Editor will edit the text of the site, collaborating with the Frontend Developer to ensure clarity and lack of grammatical errors.     

WBENA Liaison – Teryn Kuzma  

Teryn Kuzma is a current member and Concertmaster of the Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America and will serve as liaison between the Ensemble and the Project Team. The Team will ensure consistent communication with the Ensemble and will not publicize any material without their approval. 

Final Project and Dissemination 

The final project will be deployed as its own GitHub Pages site and will be shared on the WBENA website. The Project Lead will coordinate publicization on social media with WBENA and will also reach out to organizations such as the Ukrainian Museum in Manhattan and the Ukrainian History Education and Cultural Center of New Jersey for them to share on their sites and social media.  

Within the CUNY network, the Project Lead will also reach out to the Ethnomusicology department at the Graduate Center and the Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies scholars at CUNY to share the site through their internal communications and social media as well. Each member of the team will be encouraged to share the project on their own social media accounts as well.

Why This Matters

Currently, no internet archive of this nature exists for the bandura, or for any other instrument as far as I could find. Every bandura ensemble provides a brief history of the instrument and of their group, yet rarely do they go into individual songs. The bandura is Ukraine’s national instrument because of its inextricable link to the nation’s culture and history, during much of which other parties attempted to suppress both.  

In the midst of a brutal invasion where the goal is total conquest of the Ukrainian people and annihilation of their identity, this website aims to serve as a seed, through the growth of which will disseminate not only Ukraine’s rich cultural history and tradition, but also the relevancy of its culture in the modern day. In Ukraine’s National Anthem, the first line translates to “The glory and will of Ukraine has not yet perished.” Through examining an ensemble in North America and comprised of women, the project will demonstrate the strength of Ukrainian culture in diaspora as it continues to live and evolve.