When Herman Makarenko, the conductor of the National Opera of Ukraine, receives his UNESCO “Artist for Peace” award on Nov. 29, he will become the first Ukrainian in the history of independent Ukraine to receive such a distinction.
“Ukraine got a chance to convey itself on at the international level in a positive way,” the conductor says of the award.
After the award ceremony, Makarenko plans to give a concert with the Kyiv Classic Orchestra, which he has been conducting for almost 15 years.
Born into culture
Makarenko was born in 1961 into a highly artistic family. His mother was a lead ballet dancer and his father a lead singer in the opera.
“I grew up backstage. Even my name Herman comes from Peter Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Queen of Spades,’ my dad’s favorite opera,” says Makarenko, who is now 55.
A family story too possibly explains his early interest in conducting. When as a 4-year-old, Makarenko was at one of his parents’ shows, somebody told him he was to take part in the concert.
“It was a joke, but I took it very seriously at the time. I picked up a conducting baton and started preparing,” he recalls.
The young Makarenko was disappointed when he found out it had been a joke. But he was not discouraged: He soon started learning piano at just 4-5 years old, and conducting quickly became his main ambition.
“When I was 8, I just wanted to start conducting straightaway, without learning the basics,” he says. “It was only thanks to my dad’s pressure and my own will power that I carried on and gradually made my dream come true.”
Makarenko attended the Mykola Lysenko Music School and the Tchaikovsky Kyiv State Conservatoire, where he studied piano. By the age of 29 he was already a prizewinner in a Soviet young performers’ contest. Since 1982 he has been a professional conductor, although he views his job as a mission rather than a profession.
“I used to think conductors were celestial beings who descend from the sky, but I soon realized it is also a skill that can be learned,” says Makarenko.
His philosophy
Makarenko says that no member of the audience should leave without the feeling that they have grown wings.
“Musicians, singers and dancers come together to create simultaneously, and it is all controlled by a conductor.
There is no better way to describe this process other than it being a miracle.”
Apart from being a remarkable conductor, Makarenko is also a scholar, the author of many academic works, and a Ph.D. degree holder.
“I never thought about becoming a scholar, but it just happened, and I then wrote a Ph.D. dissertation about creation as a philosophical activity,” the conductor says.
Makarenko says he only recently realized why it was necessary for him to become a scholar.
“A conductor needs to combine the subconscious types of creativity that are music and art with rational reflection, which comes from philosophy,” he says.
Personal projects
Makarenko has his own musical projects too.
The idea for the annual “New Year’s Strauss Concert” was born when Makarenko, having conducted a number of Christmas programs in Europe, wanted to give the Kyiv audience a similar fairy-tale experience.
His other project, “Concert Premiere” – a collaboration with some 20 embassies – started with the idea of performing music from all over the world in Kyiv for the first time.
Makarenko is a supporter of charity, frequently giving concerts for sick children and disabled people.
“If you feel good, you need to share your happiness and anything else you can with those who need it,” he says.
And Makarenko is convinced that music itself can heal. It affects people more than other forms of art do because it speaks directly to the subconscious, he says.
“When you see the eyes of those in need enjoying it, you just know that you are doing the right thing.”
His son and daughter, the twins who are now in their second year at school, attend all of Makarenko’s concerts and have already started learning to play violin.
“I would really like them to love something as much as I love and adore conducting,” says the conductor.
The Kyiv Classic Orchestra’s next show, “IX New Year’s Strauss Concert,” will take place on Dec. 28-29 at the National Opera of Ukraine.
This story was corrected. Its initial version wrongly named Herman Makarenko the chief conductor of the Kyiv National Opera Theater.
