The legendary British singer and musician Sting, known all over the world for his unforgettable hits, performed the song "Shape of My Heart" accompanied by the Ukrainian bandura. A special duet took place during his trip to Ukraine, and this moment has already won the hearts of millions of fans around the world.
Taras Stolyar, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Honored Artist of Ukraine, played. "Cultural Airborne" posted the relevant video on its Instagram page, calling the event a vivid example of Ukrainian cultural diplomacy.
The Ukrainian military from the "Cultural Landing" met with the world star at Sean Penn's house in Los Angeles. In addition to Sting, The Killers and Queens of the Stone Age were also present there.
“Did Sting like this version? The answer is obvious - the next day, Taras Stolyar accompanied Sting already at his solo concert," the publication says.
Who is Taras Stolyar?
Taras Stolyar is from Chernivtsi. He has been playing music since the age of seven. In an interview with Espresso, Taras said that his first teacher was the charismatic Raisa Kuzmenko.
"She constantly emphasized that the bandura is a Cossack instrument. That these are our traditions, our history, what Ukraine stands on. This is a good tool that emphasizes our national color," Stolyar said.
Later, the talented boy graduated from the Chernivtsi Music School and the National Music Academy of Ukraine named after P.I. Tchaikovsky. P.I. Tchaikovsky. On his account is a victory in the First International Competition of performers on Ukrainian folk instruments named after Ignat Hotkevicha (Kharkiv, 1998). Hnat Hotkevich (Kharkiv, 1998) in the nomination "bandurist-instrumentalist" (Kharkiv, 1998). He is an artist of the National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments of Ukraine, concertmaster of the bandura group. In 2009, Taras performed bandura parts for the film "Thoughts about Taras Bulba", and for some time he was part of the Ukrainian electronic band ONUKA and starred in the video clip "Look".
From the first day of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Armed Forces in 2022, Stolyar volunteered to defend Ukraine, joining the counter-sabotage company of the 112th Brigade of the Kyiv Military District. As part of it, he took part in military actions: defense of Kyiv region, Kharkiv region, Serebryansky forest. Then there were Bakhmut and Klishchiivka. His task was reconnaissance and reconnaissance with the help of various UAVs.
In November 2023, Stolyar was invited to
Серед учасників концерту були співак Коля Сєрга, Олександр Ярмак, Олександр Чемеров та поет Павло Вишибаба. Всі вони з початку широкомасштабного вторгнення рф в Україну пішли до війська та стали до лав "Культурного Десанту".
">the Cultural Landing ."Mykola Serga was just looking for a bandurist - and I was recommended to him," explained the musician.
For the military, Taras performs not only academic music, but also many Ukrainian and foreign songs, for example "Stairway to heaven" by Led Zeppelin, "Smoke on the water" by Deep Purple, Scorpions, "Wind of change", compositions by "Oceanu Elsa".
Taras Stolyar and Metallica
Sting is not the first world-class star to appreciate the talent of the Ukrainian bandurist. In November 2024, the rock band Metallica published a video on its social network page with Taras Stolyar playing their legendary song “Nothing else matters” on the national instrument.
"Once I performed this song for the soldiers of the 4th tank brigade, they recorded a video and put it on Tik-Tok. Later, it turned out that this video was created by favorite Metallica musicians - vocalist James Gatfield and drummer Lars Ulrich. I then half-jokingly said that this performance was certified by hearts from the authors of the song," admitted Stolyar.
During the trip of the "Cultural Airborne" to the USA in Sacramento, they recorded the performance of the song "Nothing else matters" and through friends passed the video to James Gatfield:
"He was impressed, and soon the video appeared on the page. The message mentioned the "Cultural Airborne" and our mission in the USA."
According to Taras, thanks to Metallica, millions of Americans learned about Ukrainian bandura and the country itself. And this is very important against the background of the ongoing struggle, he is sure.
