Kalush Orchestra brings Ukrainian folk music to the world stage

Tymofii Muzychuk is one of the lead singers with Kalush Orchestra, a Ukrainian folk and hip-hop group that formed in 2021. But, it’s his flute playing that helps define the band’s sound.

Muzychuk grew up in a small village in the Volyn region in northwest Ukraine, and he told The World through an interpreter that music has always run through his family. 

“I’ve been involved with music since [I was] a little kid,” he said. “because my mom used to teach at a music school, and she would take me with her to work and I would play with different instruments.”

When he was 5 years old, Muzychuk took up the accordion. But a few years later, he decided it was too heavy to carry around, so he moved on to playing the panpipe, also known as the pan flute.

Muzychuk said that, as a teenager, he listened to a wide variety of music, including hip-hop and rap.

“But I also listen to a lot of folk songs and hip-hop folk. For example, there’s this band called Subcarpathia, which is a Romanian band. They mix folk with rock, and they also play the panpipes,” he said.

Folk music became Muzychuk’s passion.

He studied ethnomusicology in college and joined a folk band, where all the members wore Vyshyvankas — traditional Ukrainian embroidered clothing.

It turns out his grandmother did the same thing.

“My grandmother was also a member of a folk band, and my mother said we have a whole wardrobe of these old Vyshyvankas, so I was pretty lucky that I had access to that,” he said.

Muzychuk was inspired by songs his grandmother sang and music he encountered while doing field research.

When the Kalush Orchestra sought a flute player in 2021, Muzychuk turned out to be the perfect fit. 

One of the band’s founders, Oleh Psiuk, was more into rap, while Muzychuk injected folk into the mix. That combination defines Kalush Orchestra’s distinct sound heard today.

“Our first song is called “Shtomber Womber.” Don’t ask me what it is, because we don’t know. We just came up with this name out of the blue,” Muzychuk said.

“Shtomber Womber” was a hit, and soon the band was voted to represent Ukraine in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest. 

The annual competition draws tens of millions of viewers to watch nations compete against each other for the best original song of the year. And, like the Olympics, taking first place is a huge source of national pride.

When Kalush Orchestra competed in 2022, the band only had two songs: “Shtomber Womber” and “Stefania.” 

The group secured first place in the competition with “Stefania,” which also became a huge hit.

“The win at the Eurovision Song Contest helped provide a boost to Ukrainian folk music,” Muzychuk said. “It showed that Ukrainian folk music has a place in the world music arena.”

Since their Eurovision victory two years ago, Kalush Orchestra has become one of the most popular bands in Ukraine.

The band consistently sells out arenas and also raises money for Ukraine’s military and families affected by the war. Muzychuk said that, so far, they’ve raised more than $2 million.

“During the war, it is important to raise the spirits of the people,” he said. “It is important to maybe somehow cheer them up and to show the importance of human values, but also to show the force of music.”