Ukrainian singer and saxophonist Maryana Golovchenko connects. With her music she unites the present, the past, musical genres, Ukraine, the Middle East, the Netherlands, and people.
In September of 2021 Maryana released a very surprising debut album entitled Five Seasons. A sparkling encounter in which traditional songs from Ukraine and contemporary world sounds meet.
From the age of three (!) Maryana sang in the famous Shchedryk children's choir. Later she studied music in Kiev. In Rotterdam she did her Masters in cultural entrepreneurship and in the meantime worked at a jazz festival. She has been living in the Netherlands for 10 years and she contributes enthusiastically to the cultural landscape.
With her music Maryana devotes herself to helping those left behind in her homeland Ukraine: "My parents call my performances cultural diplomacy. You do this for your country. The basis of this war is that Russians put us down as inferior. So our culture that is not very well known needs to be heard. I reinterpret traditional folk songs with my band, with electronics and improvisation, the lyrics are universal and powerful. Everything in them has taken on a completely different meaning."