Inside the hall of the Ukrainian Temple of Labor, a symphony of sounds you may have never heard before fills the air.
“It's just something I do, it's what I assume I am,” said Enis Kozub, conductor of the Winnipeg Mandolin Orchestra.
The orchestra rehearses together every Monday evening, presenting lively melodies under the leadership of Kozub, who has been conducting the orchestra since 1998.
The band's history dates back to 1921 when 13 Ukrainian women strummed the mandolin together for the first time in Winnipeg's North End. The band played traditional Ukrainian and Eastern European pieces of music, and over time morphed into a group of twenty musicians.
“Now we also have in our current orchestra; flute, clarinet, oboe, guitar, accordion, bass and mandolin,” Kozub said.
“We also have a violin, cello and piano.”
A graduate of the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Music, Kozub has spent his entire life surrounded by music, learning to play the piano at the age of four and then turning his interest to the violin at the age of 11.
“My parents were musicians, and my four sisters, so we were what you call a musical family,” Kozub said.
The conductor traces his roots back to the Ukrainian Labor Temple as a teenager, where he was heavily involved in the community.
“There was another hall on Euclid Street where my family used to do Ukrainian things, and a Ukrainian school,” Kozub said.
“When I was a teenager, there was more going on here, and I actually danced in the dance group, sang in the choir and played violin in the orchestra.”
By the 1960s, Kozub's interest in pop music led him to create a folk trio with his sister and a friend as his knowledge of instruments continued to increase.
“We were called the ‘Three Blind Mice,’ which is kind of a Peter, Paul and Mary formation,” Kozub said.
“Our friend Murray played guitar and I played bass, and that's where I learned acoustic bass. They had one here in the hall and I borrowed it, and that's how I became the bass player.”
While continuing his music career at the University of Manitoba, Kozub spent one year at Berklee College of Music in Boston and then returned to Winnipeg by the end of the decade performing gigs as a bass player around the city.
“People hire you, they know you, they probably like you, and it just kind of evolves,” Kozub said.
“I was playing with groups in town and then Ron Paley came back to town after he finished his gig with Woody Herman's band and hired me to play with him in 1975 at the Holiday Inn downtown.”
After playing bass for many years with the Ron Paley Band, Kozub saw an opportunity to take over as conductor and the 82-year-old Kozub hasn't slowed down since. It continues the revival of traditional Ukrainian music and contemporary, rich-toned music.
“It seems like a natural progression to me, which is good for an older guy,” Kozub said with a laugh.
“This year we're writing a song called Song of the Japanese Autumn which is very far from Ukraine. We got that from the Toronto Mandolin Orchestra, our sister mandolin orchestra.”
The orchestra will play Ennio Morricone's tangos, waltzes and choral pieces, and after recent renovations to the Temple of Work, Kozub was able to rescue the Ukrainian melody and give it new life.
“I found a finding when we were renovating this building, a piece called the Ukrainian Pavilion,” Kozub said.
“Fortunately everything was in order, the score was there and all the parts. So it was like finding a gold mine, and we're doing it, and it's part of our existing repertoire.
Fred Redekop joined the orchestra in the late 1980s through word of mouth from a friend. He currently plays his first mandolin in an orchestra, an instrument he discovered in his 30s. He remembers being fascinated by the instrument's unique sound.
“For me, it was about chemistry, I got the mandolin and I plucked some strings on it and I just thought: ‘I like this thing,'” Redekop said.
“I don't know why, it's like you fell in love with someone or something and you just did it. “There's something about the intimacy that you carry with you that instead of a guitar or a bigger banjo, the mandolin had a connection to me.”
Redekop got his start in music as a rock and roll pianist. He also enjoyed his time in bluegrass bands when not playing mandolin strings for the group. As a member of the orchestra, Redekop said the spirit of keeping old music alive tempts him to continue playing.
“There's a real tradition here and the sound of Ukrainian music is just something for you and I'm not Ukrainian but there's something about the sound of the music and the liveliness and the sadness that really captivated me since I came down first,” Redekop said.
Nan Coolidge joined the orchestra as a flutist more than two decades ago with her husband, who plays the mandolin, and she enjoys the camaraderie of the group.
“I came along for the ride,” Coolidge said.
“I really like the music because it's quite a mixture but it's deeply rooted in Ukrainian tradition with a few other things added on top. It's really different from any other band in the city, so it's not a mainstream band.
Given the nature of the band, Coolidge said the music selections were a perfect fit for each character.
“I guess we're not all straight people, and I think most of us would admit we're a little bit eccentric, so playing in a band that's a little bit quirky goes with our mood,” Coolidge said with a laugh.
After 103 years of history, orchestra members are encouraged to keep things going to honor the sentiments we first heard in 1921.
“People in the community have put in a lot of hard work,” Coolidge said.
“The Ukrainian families who built this place or were involved in it have worked so hard to keep things going over the years, it's very inspiring.”
While Kozub admitted that there are fewer Ukrainians in the orchestra now than there were several decades ago, the group was able to welcome a few newcomers to the stage after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“We are also keeping the cultural groups going at the Labor Temple by keeping the orchestra going, as it is the largest group that rehearses here,” Kozub said.
The conductor said he often believes his group is a hidden gem waiting to be heard. A feeling I felt at the last party at the Human Rights Museum.
“When we played at the museum a few weeks ago, someone said to me, ‘Hey, Anis, you need a big sign so people know who you are,’” Kozub said.
The orchestra has a number of performances scheduled over the coming months, including its highly anticipated annual concert on May 11 at the Ukrainian Temple of Labor.
