The international jury of the Festival and the Opera Competition in Szeged composed of: Raymond DUFFAUT – the chairman of the jury, Andrea Rost, Esth… - Vasyl Slipak

Ukraine this year celebrated 25 years of independence, but it was real independence only after the Maidan, when a real state started to form. Here we have an example of a person who left his career to fight. New heroes of the new Ukraine are being born.

There are strong people in the world, who stand up for ideas by means of their talent. They are artists or craftsmen, writers or farmers, who are proud of their history, their past, present, and future. They switch from one art to another, forgetting that there is no otherworldliness on Earth and that human stupidity is a very complicated art which can only be appraised in the course of time and in silence. The same also applies to Vasyl Slipak – we in the West call an exalted voice like his the ‘voice from the Don’ because of its profundity and strength. This time it is about his last cry of freedom. This opus is not aimed at glorifying those who are ‘for’ or ‘against.’ I want to explain by means of this opus that, whatever the case, people must not die in the 21st century, sacrificing themselves on the altar of the god of war. The truth is hidden deep in the heart, and while peace protects it, war destroys it. So let me remember Vasyl Slipak as a friend who had no enemies and whose superb voice carried love for humanity. (2017)

He worked very actively in the last year of his life. Everybody says he was at the peak of his career in 2016. He had an enormous number of concerts to give from September 2015 to May 2016.(2017)