REGIONAL ART CENTERS AS A FACTOR IN THE PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF UKRAINIAN MUSIC (A CASE STUDY OF THE DROHOBYCH BRANCH OF THE NATIONAL UNION OF COMPOSERS OF UKRAINE)

Abstract

The article examines the role of the Drohobych branch of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine in revitalizing the region's musical life at the beginning of the 21st century. It demonstrates that the establishment of this branch was based on strong cultural and artistic traditions formed in the late 19th century, when Drohobych had an active musical environment. The research reveals that during the 20th century, the city was home to prominent artists such as S. Stelmaschuk, Yu. Korchynskyi, Yu. Sydoryak and others, while maintaining creative contacts with A. Kos-Anatolskyi, S. Liudkevych, and R. Savytskyi. It is substantiated that the loss of Drohobych’s status as a regional center in the early 1960s led to a weakening of ideological control, which in turn fostered the emergence of distinctive artistic initiatives and the formation of a local musical tradition that later became the foundation for the establishment of the regional branch of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine It is emphasized that since its foundation in 1996, the Drohobych organization has remained the only branch of the Union established outside a regional center. The article analyzes the main areas of its members' activity – research, composition, concert organization, and music publishing. It characterizes the scholarly contributions of musicologists (Ya. Bodak, P. Zborovskyi, V. Hrabovskyi, O. Nimylovych, L. Filonenko, M. Yarko, Yu. Medvedyk), who study issues of folklore, music education, teaching methodology, and the history of Ukrainian music of the 17th–18th centuries. The study highlights the compositional achievements of the branch’s representatives (R. Soviak, M. Lastovetskyi, O. Opanasiuk, R. Pankiv, and others), whose works are dominated by genres such as folk song arrangements for choir, original choral and vocal-choral compositions, cantatas, symphonic and piano works. The research emphasizes the influence of local sociocultural factors on the artistic priorities of Drohobych composers and their contribution to the preservation and promotion of Ukrainian musical traditions.