The Center for Traditional Music and Dance and its Ukrainian Wave Community Cultural Initiative in collaboration with The Ukrainian Museum and New York Bandura Ensemble/Bandura Downtown present Border Ballads from the Steppes: Mapping Ukraine in Song, the first of two concerts in conjunction with an exhibit of historical maps of Ukraine opening at the Museum this spring. The concert takes place on Friday, May 9th, at 7:00 p.m. in the Ukrainian Museum’s first floor gallery space, 222 East 6th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues) in Manhattan.

The evening’s program features traditional Ukrainian ballads researched and performed by third-generation Ukrainian-American bandura player and singer Julian Kytasty, accompanied by the musicians of the New York Bandura Ensemble. The Ukrainian bandura is a harp-like lute with an unfretted neck and thirty or more strings. Drawn from the same historical period as the Museum’s “Mapping of Ukraine” exhibition, the songs and instrumental music bring to life the dance of shifting borders – political, cultural, and personal – that characterizes Ukraine’s early modern period.

The Mapping of Ukraine: European Cartography and Maps of Early Modern Ukraine, 1550-1799 is a major exhibition of antiquarian maps opening at the Museum on April 20th and remaining on view until October 5. The exhibition features 42 original maps published by European mapmakers over a 250-year period. The curator of the exhibition is Dr. Bohdan Kordan, Professor of International Relations and Chair of the Department of Political Studies, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. A fully illustrated, bilingual catalogue with an introduction by Dr. Kordan accompanies the exhibition.

A second Bandura Downtown concert of historical ballads related to “The Mapping of Ukraine” will take place at the Museum in September.

Universally acclaimed as one of the leading bandurists of his generation worldwide, Julian Kytasty learned his extensive vocal and instrumental repertoire from his father, grandfather, and great-uncle as well as through careful study of historical sources. He has directed Ukrainian bandura and choral ensembles on four continents for nearly three decades and is co-founder, with bandurist Mike Andrec, of the ground-breaking Experimental Bandura Trio. Kytasty holds an MFA in music theory and composition from Concordia University.

Tickets, which include gallery admission and a reception to follow the concert, are $15 with discounts available for Museum members and seniors. To reserve tickets contact the Museum at 212-228-0110.