Valya Levchenko
A voice from eastern Ukraine that sings the steppe in polyphony — and reinvents it between Kyiv, Brazil and the stages of the world
Biography
Valya Levchenko is a Ukrainian singer, composer, improviser and cultural leader based in Kyiv. Her music is a tool for healing, memory and dialogue: trained in psychology, she has made the voice — and collective singing — the heart of her work, including in communities touched by war.
Her material is Ukrainian polyphony and the songs of the Slobozhanshchyna, her home region in the east of the country, which she also collects in villages. She reinvents them in collaboration with musicians from Brazil, the United Kingdom and beyond: her first album, Zitkani (2019), born in Brazil from a dialogue between Ukrainian folk and Brazilian and African rhythms, was ranked among the year’s top ten indie albums by SLUKH Media. The Kolyyskova project (2023) carries the voices of mothers fleeing war with their children; Vidghomony Stepu (2024), produced with BUNHT and supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, reinvents eight songs of the steppe with electronic arrangements.
Her stages and residencies have taken her to Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Canada and the United States; she is a member of Murmuration, the international ensemble founded by Rhiannon and Margie Gillis. In Kyiv, she founded the Kyiv Community Choir, co-founded the vocal network The Well, and has led more than twenty vocal retreats and camps in Ukraine and abroad.
Upcoming dates
- Wednesday November 18, 2026 — Vitrine officielle — Mundial Montréal 2026 (soirée) · Petit Campus, Montréal (Canada) — Official page ↗
Public dates — collected from the artist's official channels on November 9, 2026.
Discography
Zitkani (album, 2019) · Kolyyskova (project, 2023) · Vidghomony Stepu (album, 2024)
On stage
- 18 November 2026, 10:25 p.m. — Montréal, Petit Campus — official Mundial Montréal showcase
On video — their Mundial Montréal 2026 showcase
The official presentation video of Valya Levchenko for Mundial Montréal 2026: Wednesday, November 18, 2026 · 10:25 p.m. · Petit Campus, Montreal. Video © Mundial Montréal — provided to Festival TV in the festival's official media kit.