Born and raised in Edmonton, Orest Soltykevych first foray into music as a child was with piano lessons. It was during his music education studies at the University of Alberta that he truly fell in love with classical music. Orest began his career teaching junior high band and, though now retired, still keeps his hand in as a substitute teacher.
His love of radio began when his dad got a new reel-to-reel tape recorder in 1968. Ten-year-old Orest put it to work recording Top 40 hits from the family’s Woodward’s stereo console. In 1999, Orest dove into the radio world himself, honing radio skills at CJSR, Edmonton’s campus-based community radio station, where he created the program Sounds Ukrainian and hosted it for seven years.
Orest founded the Ukrainian Male Chorus in 1984, and conducted that choir until 2019. Currently, Orest conducts the choir at St John's Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral. He has sung with the Richard Eaton Singers and Da Camera Singers, and currently sings with Kappella Kyrie Slavic Chamber Choir.
As you might have guessed, his passion is choral music. “I feel it’s one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments—celebrating the beauty of the human voice in harmony with other singers!” he says.
What are three go-to songs that inspire Orest?
"Don't Stop Me Now," by Queen
"It's My Life" by Bon Jovi
"Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
What is an interesting detail you might not know about Orest?
Ever since I bought a fat bike last winter, I am now an avid year-round cyclist.
Raising Voices
Raising Voices is dedicated to music performed by the oldest musical instrument: the human voice. Raising Voices celebrates the beauty of vocal music by featuring works from the 12th century to today, performed by soloists, small ensembles and choirs.
