05/09/2026
In Memory of Pavlo Hunka
7.4.1959 - 5. 5. 2026
In 2004, opera lovers in Ontario’s Ukrainian community were delighted when Pavlo Hunka, the internationally renowned British-Ukrainian bass-baritone, arrived in Toronto to perform as a guest artist in the Canadian Opera Company’s productions of Falstaff and Die Walkūre. In 2008, Pavlo returned to perform in From the House of the Dead and Pelléas et Mélisande. Many of these opera lovers were equally delighted to meet Larysa Hunka, Pavlo’s wife and supportive life partner, who scanned the roster of ticket purchasers and invited those with a Ukrainian-sounding name to meet her in the lobby of the Four Seasons Centre prior to performances.
Pavlo, together with Larysa, also founded the Ukrainian Art Song Project (UASP) in 2004 to introduce to the music world the largely unknown treasures of Ukrainian art song. The goal was to record and publish more than 1,000 art songs by more than 26 Ukrainian composers. While in Toronto, Pavlo built a circle of like-minded people who volunteered their time and talents to support this important project, which operated under the auspices of the Canadian Ukrainian Opera Association. Soon, the CBC’s Glenn Gould Studio was filled with the sound of art songs by Lysenko, Stetsenko, Stepovy, Turkewich, and Barvinsky being recorded by Braun, Butterfield, Whicher, Ludwig, Bayrakdarian, Polegato, Szabó, Ainsworth, Krywolt, Borys, and Kradjian, among others — Canada’s finest classical musicians.
In 2017, Pavlo and the UASP volunteers launched the first Ukrainian Art Song Summer Institute at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning. With Pavlo as artistic director in the early years, the Summer Institute focused on training emerging classical vocalists in the nuances of Ukrainian text, pronunciation, and performance style.
In 2019, Pavlo and Larysa decided to continue their goal of recording art songs with musicians of the Lviv Conservatory in Ukraine. In Canada, the UASP continues to focus on educating emerging and professional vocalists through the Summer Institute and recitals. And from the beginning, making Ukrainian art songs available online to students and music lovers, at no cost, has been the overarching objective.
The Ukrainian Art Song Project salutes Pavlo Hunka. He was a force of nature — not only a brilliant and fearless star of the opera stage, but a passionate teacher committed to his dream of uncovering long-suppressed Ukrainian art songs and bringing them to the world. We extend our sincerest condolences to Pavlo’s greatest love, his wife Larysa, who was his partner in all things.
Memory Eternal. Вічная памʼять.
