Ukrainian folk singers honor 40th anniversary of Chernobyl nuclear disaster with Portland concert

An explosion on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, which was then a part of the Soviet Union, resulted in the worst nuclear disaster in history. Massive amounts of radioactive material spewed into the atmosphere. At least 30 people were killed. A Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was established and today remains largely uninhabited with lingering radioactive contamination.    To mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, a free concert is being held tomorrow night at Portland State University. The concert is being organized by Inna Kovtun, a Ukrainian singer, folklorist and ethnomusicologist who settled in Portland four years ago with her daughter after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Chornobyl: A Song Never Silenced” showcases the folklore and music traditions of Polissia, the region in northern Ukraine which is home to Chernobyl, or Chornobyl, as it’s known in Ukraine.  The concert features performances by Kovtun and her friends, Nadia Tarnowsky, a Ukrainian American Fulbright researcher in Ukrainian folk songs who lives in Cleveland; and Hanna Tishchenko, a Ukrainian folk singer who lives in Chicago. Kovtun and Tarnowsky join us for a discussion and a studio performance with Tishchenko.