Contestant of the regional competition "Young Person of the Year – 2025" in the "Heart Devoted to Donetsk Region" category Liudmyla Savchenko
My name is Liudmyla Savchenko, and I was born in 1993 in the village of Zlatoustivka, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region.
From an early age, I was connected to traditional culture: at six, I began to study traditional singing. In 2010, I entered the acting training studio at the H. H. Veriovka National Honored Academic Ukrainian Folk Choir. In 2012, I completed the full course of study as a "choir artist." During my studies, in 2011, I had the opportunity to go on a European tour (Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia) with a small part of the Veriovka Choir as a studio student.
Even in my student years, I began to participate in field research in the Donetsk region. Together with folklorist and researcher Iryna Kriuchenko, I took part in several ethnographic expeditions to the villages of Donetsk region, where I recorded samples of oral folk art, traditional songs, legends, and rituals.
In 2016, I graduated from the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts with a degree in "Musical Art," and was qualified as a vocalist, choir artist, teacher, and head of a vocal ensemble.
From 2017 to 2020, I worked at the Kyiv Municipal Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet for Children and Youth, where I performed a solo part in the play "Once upon a time there was a dog," specifically opening the performance with the traditional song "Oi, tam na hori."
From 2017 to 2023, I taught folk vocals and led the folkloric ensemble "Sviatadar" at Kyiv Children's School of Arts № 8. From 2021 to 2022, I headed the vocal and choir department. The "Sviatadar" ensemble, which I worked with, repeatedly won top awards at all-Ukrainian and international competitions. The repertoire was based on the folklore of the Donetsk region. In 2018, I organized a solo concert for the ensemble's students and was also a member of the jury for the International Festival-Competition "Inna-Brovary" in the "Folk Vocals" category.
Deeply immersed in the traditional embroidery of the Donetsk region and possessing many of its techniques, that same year, for the 95th anniversary celebration of the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region, I created an embroidered ornament—the Volnovakha district embroidered shirt, stylized with local features of our region, including its characteristic elements and colors.
For over 10 years, I have been interested in traditional clothing and accessories. I completed a course in weaving sashes, know several techniques, and work on three different tools. Based on archival photographs, I make necklaces modeled after those of displaced people from the Donetsk region, sew, and reconstruct traditional clothing elements. I create beaded wreaths from pom-poms based on samples from different regions of Ukraine, waxed wreaths from ancient Donetsk region models, and accessories like pouches and belts. I have my own collection of authentic women's attire, part of which I restored myself. In addition, I have mastered specific types of traditional crafts: making Christmas "spiders," Pysankarstvo (writing on eggs), and am currently learning pottery.
After the full-scale invasion in 2022, for the safety of my young son, I had to move to Germany. While living there, I participated in traditional music concerts and conducted master classes on traditional singing, particularly songs characteristic of the Donetsk region (in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Freiburg, as well as online in the USA). I founded the traditional singing studio "Voice of the Steppe" in the city of Traunstein, which included Ukrainian refugees (mostly from the Donetsk region) and also Germans. We studied and performed traditional Ukrainian songs.
I recorded over 20 traditional children's ditties and 3 lullabies from the Donetsk region in my own performance.
I ran a "Necklace for a donation" raffle on my social media pages. I made the necklace myself, and the funds raised during the raffle were donated to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. I plan to continue combining creativity with charity.
In 2023, I started working at the Donetsk Regional Educational and Methodological Center of Culture (DONMCK) as a methodologist in the fine arts department. I was also entrusted with the responsibility of implementing measures to preserve and popularize the intangible cultural heritage of the Donetsk region. While working at DONMCK, with the support of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, I managed to implement a number of projects, events, and seminars. These include the project "Treasures from the Chest of Time" for the Day of Traditional Authentic Costume, where I presented elements of my collection; the educational online project "Journey through the Traditions of Donetsk Region. Preserve History!", within which I create online lessons; the round table "Traditional Culture of Donetsk Region during the War: from Research to Preservation," dedicated to Ethnographer's Day; and thematic seminars, presentations, methodological developments, and speeches dedicated to the elements of the intangible cultural heritage of the Donetsk region.
I recently returned to Ukraine and now continue to work, implement projects, share my experience and knowledge, and spread information about the unique heritage of our region, both as part of my work at DONMCK and because I consider the preservation and popularization of the culture of the Donetsk region to be my personal duty. I love my country very much and want more people to learn about the traditional culture of our Donetsk region. For me, this is a natural continuation of what I have been doing for many years—preserving and sharing what is important and close to me. This is a part of my life.