Ukrainian musician and conductor Kostiantyn Starovytskyi killed in war
Ukrainian musician and conductor Kostiantyn Starovytskyi has been killed on the front while defending his country from the Russian invasion.
"Today the orchestra suffered an irreparable loss. Our colleague Kostiantyn Starovytskyi was killed while defending us, defending the entire Ukraine, on the Kramatorsk front," Ukraine’s National Academic Brass Orchestra said on Facebook. Starovytskyi played bassoon in the orchestra.
The National Philharmonic of Ukraine also wrote about Starovytskyi’s death. "A musician, conductor, father and son was killed in the war. A hero, Kostiantyn Starovytskyi. Our sincerest condolences to his family, loved ones, friends, brothers-in-arms and colleagues," the Philharmonic posted.
Starovytskyi’s colleagues wrote posts remembering his life.
"Terrible news… Today my colleague, a conductor and a wonderful musician, Kostiantyn Starovytskyi was killed on the Kramatorsk front. Once we worked on a production together…Kostia was conducting, and I was singing. We dreamt about the stage, and found an amazing team. Now he will play his music with the Heavenly orchestra," Anhelina Karpenko, a singer, wrote.
"A wonderful musician, artist, my instrumentation student. I remember his interesting arrangements of Rossini operas for woodwind ensembles. He was always friendly. He loved music. Kostia, I will always remember you and I am so sorry this tragedy has happened," Lesia Dychko, a composer and professor, wrote.
Kostiantyn Starovytskyi was born on 30 October 1982 in the town of Brovary. He graduated from the orchestra department of Ukraine’s National Music Academy. He staged Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera Rita at the Kyiv Opera House, which received four nominations for the Kyiv Pectoral 2016 theatre award.
From the first days of the full-scale invasion, he served as a senior rifleman in a company unit defending the Brovary district territorial centre. He then served in Kharkiv Oblast.
He is survived by a young daughter, Yeva, his wife Snizhana and his elderly mother.
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