Biography
Born in Lviv in 1938, Myroslav Skoryk grew up with parents who taught as amateur musicians. Recognition of his gifts arrived at age six from his great aunt Solomiya Krushelnytska, a leading operatic soprano of her era. He entered the Lviv Conservatory in 1945, yet deportation with his family interrupted his path, keeping them in Siberia until 1955. Return to Lviv brought renewed studies with Stanyslav Lyudkevych, Adam Soltys, and Roman Simovych. Completion of the program came in 1960, after which he moved to the Moscow Conservatory for work with Dmitry Kabalevsky. Pieces written during those years comprise Four Romances, Suite for string orchestra, and the Violin Sonata No. 1, later included on Solomia Soroka’s album Myroslav Skoryk: Music for Violin and Piano.
Membership in the National Union of Composers of Ukraine followed in 1963. His pop group Veseli Skrypky achieved wide appeal through the hit song "Do Not Trample Lilies of the Valley." The 1965 Hutsul Tryptykh gained notice for its Carpatho-Ukrainian folk influence, an element he continued to draw upon throughout his output. Teaching began at the Lviv Conservatory from 1964 to 1966, then extended for twenty-two years at the Kyiv Conservatory, where his students included Oleh Kiva, Ivan Karabyts, and Yevhen Stankovych.
Scholarly publications appeared as well: Prokofiev and Schoenberg in 1962, The Modal System of Prokofiev in 1969, and The Structural and Expressive Aspects of Chords in 20th Century Music in 1983. For the 1982 film Vysokyy Pereval he supplied Melody in A minor, which became his most popular and most performed composition and which he later arranged for multiple instrumentations. The Cello Concerto brought him the 1987 Taras Shevchenko National Prize, Ukraine’s highest award.
He left Kyiv in 1988 to return to Lviv and lead the Lviv chapter of the Ukrainian Composers’ Union. From the 1990s onward he wrote sacred pieces, among them the Requiem for choir, and incorporated pop elements in Fantasia on Themes by the Beatles. The sacred opera Moses received its premiere in 2001 during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ukraine. Named Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the State in 2008, he served as artistic director of the Kyiv Opera from 2011 to 2017. He spent his retirement in Kyiv until his death in 2020. Since then his music has appeared on Music for Ukraine, Sommernachts Konzert 2022, and Ukrainian Masters: Kosenko, Skoryk, Bortkiewicz - Violin Sonatas.
Membership in the National Union of Composers of Ukraine followed in 1963. His pop group Veseli Skrypky achieved wide appeal through the hit song "Do Not Trample Lilies of the Valley." The 1965 Hutsul Tryptykh gained notice for its Carpatho-Ukrainian folk influence, an element he continued to draw upon throughout his output. Teaching began at the Lviv Conservatory from 1964 to 1966, then extended for twenty-two years at the Kyiv Conservatory, where his students included Oleh Kiva, Ivan Karabyts, and Yevhen Stankovych.
Scholarly publications appeared as well: Prokofiev and Schoenberg in 1962, The Modal System of Prokofiev in 1969, and The Structural and Expressive Aspects of Chords in 20th Century Music in 1983. For the 1982 film Vysokyy Pereval he supplied Melody in A minor, which became his most popular and most performed composition and which he later arranged for multiple instrumentations. The Cello Concerto brought him the 1987 Taras Shevchenko National Prize, Ukraine’s highest award.
He left Kyiv in 1988 to return to Lviv and lead the Lviv chapter of the Ukrainian Composers’ Union. From the 1990s onward he wrote sacred pieces, among them the Requiem for choir, and incorporated pop elements in Fantasia on Themes by the Beatles. The sacred opera Moses received its premiere in 2001 during Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ukraine. Named Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the State in 2008, he served as artistic director of the Kyiv Opera from 2011 to 2017. He spent his retirement in Kyiv until his death in 2020. Since then his music has appeared on Music for Ukraine, Sommernachts Konzert 2022, and Ukrainian Masters: Kosenko, Skoryk, Bortkiewicz - Violin Sonatas.