Hryhory Nazarenko

Hryhory Nazarenko [Григорій Назаренко], (b. October 13, 1902, in Poltava, Ukraine; d. May 25, 1997, in Detroit, MI). Hryhory Nazarenko was one of the founding members and the first artistic director of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus in Kyiv in 1942. He studied at the Poltava Music Institute and sang in the Poltava Ukrainian National Chorus directed by Fedir Popadych. During the Second World War, he was imprisoned by the Germans. Afterwards, he came to America in 1949 and settled in Detroit, where he worked in the General Motors plant. He was asked in 1953 to lead the choir at St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Detroit, which was established through the efforts of other singers from the Bandurist Chorus—Dmytro Lubansky, Alexander and Petro Sadovyj, and Petro Honcharenko. In the years that followed, Nazarenko continued performing with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. He passed away in Detroit on May 25, 1997.