Uniting cultures through song

Ukrainian singer, EMHS grad, has a love for opera

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Standing before hundreds of people in a Brooklyn catering hall, Kristina Shafranski belted out a haunting version of “O mio babbino caro,” a classical Italian aria by composer Giacomo Puccini, at the Festival of Song competition on Jan. 25. The performance, met by rousing applause at both its beginning and end, earned Shafranski first place, and a trip to Italy to represent the U.S. at the Cantamare Summer Festival in Sicily this summer.

Puccini may not be what you’d expect to hear from a 19-year-old — in part because she is not Italian, but Ukrainian — but anyone who has followed her musical development knows that she is seasoned beyond her years.

Shafranski, a sophomore at Hofstra University and a 2013 East Meadow High School graduate, has performed at Ukrainian festivals throughout the eastern U.S. for almost half of her life. A soprano, she is a member of Hofstra’s Opera Theatre, and says she developed a love for classical music and opera while in high school.

She began singing at Ukrainian festivals on Long Island at age 10, and a few years later she made her debut at New York City’s largest festival, hosted by the Saint George Ukrainian Catholic Church every May in the East Village. She has since become a staple there, singing Ukrainian pop songs.

The festival, Shafranski said, is a huge celebration of Ukrainian heritage, with traditional food, clothing and musical performances. “It’s literally thousands of people that filter through that block,” she said. “You look out and you see people watching you. They don’t necessarily understand what you’re singing, but I’m sure they appreciate it.”

While she honed her craft by taking voice lessons and progressing through East Meadow High’s music program, one of her most defining performances, she recalled, took place four years ago, when she opened for the Ukrainian singer Ruslana at a cultural arts center in upstate Wawarsing. Ruslana was the first Ukrainian to win the Eurovision Song Contest, a major European singing competition, in 2004.

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