Biography
Shtokalko was born 25 May 1920 in the West Ukrainian town of Berezhany, the son of a priest. As a youth he showed a great interest in music and folk songs. His family had a bandura which his father rev. Pavlo Shtokalko had purchased in 1925 in Prague. Shtokalko initially took private bandura lessons from Yukhym Klevchutsky, and later, during his studies in Lviv took lessons from the Galician bandurist Yuri Singalevych, and during the war was strongly influenced by Kharkiv bandurists Hryhory Bazhul and Leonid Haydamaka. Shtokalko consistently collected the smallest snipets of information about the bandura and the kobzari and was able to include them in his performances. He consistently worked on collecting and studying everything associated with the bandura and the development of bandura technique.
His technique reached new heights of virtuosity.
Shtokalko was a doctor of medicine by day. His medical studies commenced in Lviv and he completed them in 1950 in Munich after which he emigrated to the United States. During his studies, and later his work, he never neglected his bandura playing.
Read more about this topic: Zinoviy Shtokalko
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