FEDORA - Opera Screening: Vyshyvanyi. The King of Ukraine

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06 March 2026

Paris

Industry News

Organised by the 1991 Project and the Columbia Global Paris Center, this event presents a screening of the contemporary Ukrainian opera Vyshyvanyi. The King of Ukraine by Alla Zagaykevych, with a libretto by the internationally acclaimed Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan.

Recorded at the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in autumn 2021 and staged by Rostyslav Derzypilskyi, the work has been recognised by critics as one of the most significant creations of the contemporary Ukrainian operatic repertoire.

The opera recounts the remarkable story of Wilhelm von Habsburg, an Austrian archduke who, in the early twentieth century, became a poet, a soldier, and a devoted supporter of Ukrainian independence. Through this historical and profoundly European figure, the work explores themes of identity, freedom, political commitment, and cultural dialogue between Ukraine and Western Europe.

Artistically, Vyshyvanyi brings together contemporary academic composition and electroacoustic music, a field in which Zagaykevych is a pioneer, with elements inspired by Ukrainian folklore, both in its musical language and dramaturgy. The composer notably studied at IRCAM in Paris, further enriching the work’s European artistic dimension.

The screening will include an online introduction by composer Alla Zagaykevych and producer Oleksandra Saienko, moderated by Anna Stavychenko, founder and artistic director of the 1991 Project.

The event takes place within the framework of the Ukrainian Season in France, organised jointly by the Institut français and the Ukrainian Institute, under the patronage of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and with the support of the Ministries of Culture of both countries, as well as the UStream Festival.

The screening will be held at Reid Hall in the Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

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