Born in 1958, in Frankfurt, Germany, Oleksander (Oles) Kuzyszyn completed his piano studies with a diploma from the Ukrainian Music Institute, New York branch (1975), and concurrently, received a piano diploma from the National Guild of Piano Teachers in Austin, Texas. Oles graduated with a B.A. in Music (1980) from Columbia University in New York and went on to earn an M.A. in Music, with a concentration in music theory, from Columbia University in 1984. Known primarily for his wide-ranging activities in the area of Ukrainian popular music, Oles spent 42 years on the Ukrainian dance band circuit, leading “Chervona Kalyna” (1975-77), “Iskra” (1977-86) and “The Luna Band” (1987-2017) in appearances throughout the United States and Canada. He recorded three albums with “Iskra” and one with “The Luna Band”, serving as musical director, songwriter, arranger, vocalist, instrumentalist and producer. He, along with his “Iskra” bandmates, produced the debut album of the renowned “Promin” vocal ensemble, in a recording of a cappella vocal chamber and choral music by Ukrainian composers. Oles recorded three albums with Belarusian superstar vocalist Bohdan (Danchyk) Andrusyhyn – two in Belarusian and one in Ukrainian. One of the Belarusian recordings was in collaboration with Leonid Bortkevich – lead singer of the legendary Belarusian band “Pesnyary”. On all three recordings, Oles served as musical director, arranger and instrumentalist. In addition, Oles was a session musician on a series of commercial recordings and film projects, and has often appeared in solo performances, as vocalist and pianist. Oles has been a long time music reviewer for “Svoboda”, “The Ukrainian Weekly” and “Suchasnist”, publishing reviews of both classical and pop concerts, new recordings, and articles on various music related topics. Together with his wife Olya, Oles is the owner of Duma Music, Inc., a firm that has published numerous works by leading Ukrainian composers, such as Myroslav Skoryk, Ivan Karabyts, Leonid Hrabovsky, Volodymyr Ivasiuk, and others. He has also served as a technical consultant and advisor to several other independent publishers and composers. All of the aforementioned concurred with a long professional career in the music industry, now nearing the completion of its fourth decade.
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