Toloka

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Boyko music has always received less attention than Lemko or Hutsul music, despite the fact that before the Second World War, the Boyko people made up the majority of the Bieszczady population.

The Sanok-based trio, WERNYHORA, is reviving this largely forgotten world of Boyko culture, alongside the music of their neighbouring regions, with their latest album. The band offers fresh interpretations of traditional songs while remaining true to the spirit of the originals.

In May 2021, they won first prize at the 23rd Polskie Radio Folk Music Competition “New Tradition”, where their vocalist, Daria Kosiek, was also honoured with the Czesław Niemen Award for her exceptional talent and artistic personality. Their newly released album, “Toloka”, published by Agencja Muzyczna Polskiego Radia, was part of the award from Polskie Radio Programme 2.

WERNYHORA was formed in 2019 by three musicians from Sanok. Violinist and cellist Anna Oklejewicz, who also plays historical string instruments, met Maciej Harna, who plays the hurdy-gurdy and kobza, and the pair later connected with vocalist Daria Kosiek. United by a shared passion for traditional music from the Boyko, Lemko, Transcarpathian, and Podolia regions, the trio gave their first concert in Slovakia in the autumn of 2019.

In the spring of 2020, Daria Kosiek was awarded the Culture on the Web Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which led to WERNYHORA’s first musical project, “Bojkowski Głos Bieszczadu”. The band went on to win two awards at “Mikołajki Folkowe” festival that year, setting the stage for their 2021 success at “New Tradition”.

During the recording of the “Toloka” album, which took place between January and March 2022 at Jerzy Wasowski S-4 Studio at Polskie Radio, WERNYHORA was joined by Wojciech Lubertowicz on drums and duduk, while bassist Marcin Pospieszalski served as the musical producer for the entire project. The mixing, mastering, and recording were handled by Tadeusz Mieczkowski.

The album’s title refers to the Ukrainian tradition of neighbourly aid, often culminating in communal games and singing. WERNYHORA musicians say: “At this poignant time, when our neighbours in Ukraine are suffering through a brutal war, we hope our interpretations can reveal the beauty of the borderlands’ songs, in the hopeful anticipation of a shared, neighbourly gathering and singing”.

The album, published by Agencja Muzyczna Polskiego Radia, is promoted by the song “Żurba” (“Sadness”) from the Podolia region, dedicated to fighting Ukraine. Despite its 19th-century origins, the song’s wartime message is tragically still relevant today.