Songs of Love & Loss & Hope
Metin Yilmaz Bilûr/Kaval & Larysa Kovalchuk Bandura/Voice

A rare meeting and musical journey

Metin Yilmaz and Larysa Kovalchuk are both accomplished musicians in their fields.

This unique musical collaboration, which combines Kurdish and Ukrainian national instruments, will present the joys and cries of two cultures, as well as modern compositions with highly virtuousic improvisations.

As one of the contestants recently on The Voice of Australia, Larysa’s enchanting voice captured and mesmerised audiences.

Larysa Kovalchuk’s exceptional soprano voice, combined with the gentle sounds of the bandura,has thrilled audiences as geographically distant asher native Ukraine, Western Europe and around

Australia. Larysa studied voice, bandura and conducting at Kiev Conservatorium of Music and soon became one of the nation’s leading players. She performed in numerous festivals in the Ukraine and Western Europe, including Latvia, Estonia Germany and France. Larissa was a laureate of the 1993 all-Ukrainian Bandura Festival and won international renown when she performed at the 1994 “All the World’s Violins“ Festival in France.

Since moving to Australia, Larysa has made recordings with SBS and ABC Radio and Television Companies, has appeared in Opera House, numerous Multicultural and Folk Festivals, Musica Viva Concerts and many invited performances. These include the 2014 “Noel! Noel!” concert series with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, the 2015 Woodford Folk Festival and the 2023 National Folk Festival . Larysa holds her Masters Degree in Education from the University of Sydney and currently is the Leading Vocal Teacher at the Riverina Conservatorium of Music.

METIN YILMAZ is a virtuoso exponent of the Kaval (Ancient/traditional flute)

Metin is disciple of Ustad Sinan Celik and Osman Aktas, Turkey's firts and foremost Kaval matsers and music producers. Of Kurdish origin and born in Turkey, Metin's experience as a performing and recording artist in Turkey and Europe and Australia is extensive since has become a renowned kaval player.

Based for a decade in Cologne Germany where he toured Europe with some of Turkey’s finest musicians. Metin has the ability to deeply move an audience with his extraordinary playing

Kaval/Blur, is a form of flute encompassing a vast landscape, has its history extending to the Sumerians. Today, it is played by Kurds, Turks, Armenians, peoples of the Balkans and much of the Orient, and adopted as one of the fundamental instruments by those regions with its highly characteristic and mystical sounds.

Bandura The Bandura is the Ukrainian national instrument and one of its most recognizable symbols. Dating back to the 6th Century, the Bandura was first mentioned in Greek chronicles describing a lute-like instrument, which was played by the warriors in camps and on the battlefields. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, blind traveling musicians called Kobzars wondered across towns and villages of Ukraine, playing the Bandura and singing about the exploits of the Kozaks (Ukrainian warriors)