Maryna Krut (pronounced “kroot”) is a Ukrainian singer and virtuoso of the bandura, a stringed instrument unique to Ukraine that looks and sounds like a hybrid of lute and harp. At 28, Maryna Krut is an assured performing artist; her compelling, soulful performances evoke both folk traditions and modern sensibilities, with pop and jazz flourishes. A Eurovision finalist, she often represents Ukraine at official events and performs for soldiers in the current war zone, and she has appeared at the Edinburgh International Culture Summit, Andalucia Big Festival, Montreal Ukrainian Festival, and on other international stages.
The bandura’s harpsichord-like sound is both delicate and assertive. Maryna’s instrument has an astonishing 64 strings stretched over a single piece of wood, with 13 bass strings stretched along a short, fretless neck, and the remaining treble strings stretched across a large soundboard. She plays the bass set with her left hand, while the right plays across the prodigious treble array. In addition to being a masterful instrumentalist, Maryna’s striking, powerful voice soars in an acoustic setting, whether with a string quartet or solo.
Early bandurists were male balladeers who travelled from village to village; early in her career, says Maryna, “I dyed my hair pink, painted my nails black, wore leather jackets and started to play the bandura in a more modern, jazzy and funky way” (Vogue Australia). Now she’s stretching her style back toward the bandura’s folk roots. “[Her music] represents the DNA of Ukrainian culture, in all its styles, classic and very modern” (Ouest France).
The Russian invasion of Ukraine transformed Maryna Krut from being a performer updating a beautiful tradition of music to being a witness testifying to people around the world about the devastating war in her homeland. These days, the 28-year-old musician leads a double life. From her temporary home in the west of Ukraine, she travels to the front lines of the war to perform for soldiers. And she also travels abroad to perform, relating what she has seen—and thanking people for their support of the Ukrainian people. “Before I was like an indie-folk girl who tried to be a star in Ukraine—without a mission, without history, without nothing,” Maryna said. “But after the invasion, everything changed, because I was the same girl, but with a mission. You don’t have any choice when a lot of your very close friends are trying to save your country. You need to be a voice for your country, telling the true story, being a witness of the war.”
“I feel a lot of anxiety,” Maryna said. “When I wake up in the morning, one of the first things I do is to read the news. When you go to the bed, you’re not confident that your mom will survive. So I check the news, and if something happened, I call my mom and my friends. And when I finish my concerts, I go
home. There are a lot of great people right now fighting, because if they don’t, Russians will come to our country and kill all musicians, all government people, men, women, and I think I might be on those lists too.”
