Ukrainian National Chorus, Stanyslaviv (now Ivano-Frankivs'k) Ukraine, 1919.

In early 1919, the head of the Ukrainian People's Republic Symon Petliura sponsored the formation of a choir whose role was to be the promotion of Ukrainian culture and nationhood abroad, to be lead by the conductor and composer Oleksandr Koshyts'. With the political situation in Ukraine extremely unstable and Kyiv under threat from the Bolsheviks, Koshyts' and his choir members fled west, eventually reuniting in western Ukraine before beginning their concert tour into western Europe.