Mormon musician takes up unfamiliar instrument to serve in Ukraine

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Mormon composer Kathleen Holyoak wasn't asked to build an ark or part the Red Sea.

No, she was merely asked to write the music for the 30-piece orchestra and 135-voice choir that performed at the cultural celebration event held prior to the Kyiv Ukraine Temple dedication.

And, she was to be one of the musicians in the bandura sectional — musicians playing ancient instruments that aren't even made anymore from music that doesn't exist.

No problem, except that the 66-year-old Holyoak doesn't speak, read or write Russian.

But she's game, and she trusts the Lord to help her with such challenges.

\"When I was asked to take on this assignment, I was overwhelmed,\" Holyoak said. \"It was enormous, but everything just fell into place.\"

Writing and arranging the orchestral music was possible because Holyoak has the gift of perfect pitch, so she can hear exactly the note she wants in a piece of music.

She majored in music in college and has taught music for 35 years. She also plays handbells, the piano and the organ. So writing music for a variety of instruments isn't entirely foreign to her. She has also consistently written music for the annual LDS Music Competition.

\"I was thrilled to be asked to write the music. It's my way of giving back to the Lord and the people,\" she said.

She ended up taking over arrangements of a number of Janice Kapp Perry Primary songs as well as the orchestrations for \"The Morning Breaks,\" \"Hark All Ye Nations,\" \"High on a Mountain Top\" and \"Holy Temples on Mount Zion.\"

Getting up to speed on the bandura was the tougher part of her assignment.

\"I went to YouTube, typed in 'bandura,' and I could find people playing it. I just couldn't see how (they did it),\" she said.

Not one to be easily deterred, Holyoak set about to find a bandura she could own and learn to play.

Her children found a Ukrainian woman in Sacramento, Calif., who was willing to sell her bandura. Holyoak started experimenting.

Since a bandura has no frets or colored strings, the musician has to pluck the notes by memory with two hands from among the two layers of 55 strings, white notes on top, flats and sharps on the bottom. \"It's a matter of feel and spacing,\" Holyoak said.