Grade 5 and 6 boys performing in "Ukraine - Motherland"

The busiest and most anticipated day of Ukrainian Week is Thursday, the day of the concert. The Ukrainian concert is the most important event of the week, and the culmination of many hours of practice and preparation. It involves all the staff and students of IHMS, as well as hundreds of visitors to the school.

On Thursday, March 25th, 2010, the K-8 students of IHMS gave two excellent performances of “The Family, The Home, The Homeland”. The format of the two Ukrainian concerts was very similar to the Christmas concerts last December - the first performance was a dress rehearsal at 1:30 in the afternoon, and the second was at 7:00 in the evening. Students performed the concert twice that day to accommodate the various schedules of parents and relatives. Since most parents came to the concert that evening, the afternoon performance was an excellent way for the students to tighten up their act while performing in front of a smaller live audience.

Grade 2 girls performing "My Grandpa"

For the most part, “The Family, The Home, The Homeland” was a series of songs about traditional Ukrainian family beliefs, values, and traditions. The concert also had narration and short skits in between musical numbers.

Thank you to our Ukrainian/Music teacher, Mrs. Stanowych, who wrote the script for the concert, prepared the students for all the songs, and directed the concert! This was a lot of work, and involved weeks of rehearsals to make sure everything was just perfect. Mrs. Stanowych is a very talented teacher who organizes and directs several large concerts for the school every year. Well done, Mrs. Stanowych!

Mrs. Stanowych with the Ukrainian concert narrators

Thank you also to the rest of the IHMS staff for their various contributions to the concert. A lot of hard work and effort went into its preparation, but it was well worth it. The audience enjoyed themselves, and “The Family, The Home, The Homeland” appeared to be a great success!

Professionally filmed DVD’s of "The Family, The Home, The Homeland" will be available for purchase through the school office.