Roman Soltykewych

When Soltykewych first arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, he conducted the church choir at the Ukrainian Catholic St. Josaphat Cathedral.^[4]

In 1953, Soltykewych founded the "Dnipro" Choir, now knows as the Ukrainian Dnipro Ensemble of Edmonton, after the famous river in Ukraine, and was originally just a male choir.^{[11][12][1][13]} On November 29 of the same year, Soltykewych led a performance in memory of the late Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky.^[4]

Soltykewych founded the SUMK Choir (Ukrainian: Хор СУМК, meaning Canadian Ukrainian Youth Association) in 1966 in Edmonton, Alberta. Since its founding, it has performed across Canada and in Italy, Austria, and West Germany.^[14] The group also performed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the Ukrainian Week Festival to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the independence of Ukraine in January 1975.^[15]

In 1965, Soltykewych left the choir at St. Josaphat Cathedral, and began conducting at the St. John's Cathedral Choir in Edmonton, Alberta.^[16][4]

In 1973, Soltykewych was presented with an achievement award by the Premier of Alberta at the time, Peter Lougheed.^[1]

After his death, Soltykewych had a scholarship created in his honour, the Roman Soltykewych Music Scholarship, for those looking to pursue further studies in the field of Ukrainian choral or vocal music.^[17]

Roman Soltykewych died on November 17, 1976, in Edmonton, Alberta, at the age of 67 after suffering a heart attack.^[16][18][1]