Hryhory Kytasty

Hryhory Kytasty [Григорій Китастий], (b. January 17, 1907, in Kobeliaky, Poltava oblast, Ukraine; d. April 6, 1984, in San Diego, CA). Composer, bandurist, and longtime conductor of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. After completing his studies in 1935 at the Poltava Musical College and the Lysenko Institute of Music and Drama in Kyiv, he joined the Kyiv Bandurist Capella. In 1937, he became the concertmaster and in 1939 assistant conductor. At the outset of WWII, the capella was disbanded; attempts were made to re-establish the group. In 1941, Kytasty became the Artistic Director. In 1942, Kytasty and the group traveled to Germany, where for the next several years they lived and performed in D.P. camps. In 1949, seventeen members of the chorus, including Kytasty, immigrated to America and settled in Detroit, MI. In the early 1960s, he became the first choir director at St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church in San Diego, CA. Afterwards, he moved to Minneapolis and then to Chicago. Finally, in 1967, he settled in Cleveland, Ohio, where he served as the choir director at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Parma, OH. He passed away in 1984 and is buried at St. Andrew’s Cemetery in South Bound Brook, NJ.