The activity of singer Zoja Ghajdaj as a member of the jury of vocal competitions

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study one of the important areas of professional activity of Ukrainian singer Z. Ghajdaj – the work as a member of the jury of vocal competitions in the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s. In the field of this scientific problem, to show the importance of these creative projects in European and world dimensions, the specifics and the conditions of their implementation, the peculiarities of involving famous performers in the work of the jury, the originality of Z. Ghajdaj's creative approaches in promoting the professional development of Soviet opera singers. The methodology consists in the application of the source study method for the analysis of archival documents, which contain reliable information on the involvement and work of Z. Ghajdaj in the jury of vocal competitions, and other scientific materials on the research topic, specifically historical – to study socio-political conditions that influenced the possibilities and motivation for holding vocal competitions and attracting Soviet vocalists to participate in them, bio-bibliographic – to determine the place of this direction of the singer's activity in her creative biography, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization) – in order to thoroughly study the problem and form a reasoned conclusion. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the expansion of information about the specifics of involvement and professional activity of Z. Ghajdaj as a member of the jury of vocal competitions, the holding of which intensified during the Khrushchev «Thaw» of the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s. Together with the opportunity to work in the jury, the singer received more opportunities to apply her many years of performing experience in the process of competitive listening to Soviet singers, evaluating and determining the best of them. Conclusions. The analysis of Z. Ghajdaj's creative activity as a member of the jury of vocal competitions made it possible to identify the level of these competitions in the world music space and the circumstances of their holding in the conditions of the «Cold War» and Khrushchev «Thaw» of the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s, their role in the formation of the creative career of the participants, the degree of involvement of the singer in this artistic work and her contribution to the professional development of Soviet opera singers.