I was delighted to receive a message from Peter Chudolij’s mom, Lillianna, a couple of weeks ago. She wanted me to know that Peter would be performing with a Ukrainian dance troupe at the Silver Spring, Maryland Ukrainian Festival. My husband, Dan, and I drove down to enjoy the beautiful Ukrainian folk art, great food and the excellent dance skills of one of our all-time favorite teenagers, Peter Chudolij.

We met Peter many years ago at the AAA Festival in Dearborn, Michigan. In the exhibit room, we had our “SqueezinArt” table next to Peter’s family’s “Music Magic USA” display. I was immediately impressed with this friendly, well-spoken and talented child.

An only child, Peter interacted beautifully with his proud parents and, through the years, it has been so nice to see that they still share this wonderful relationship. I always look forward to seeing Peter. We have a lot to talk about as we share so many common interests. We both love dogs, accordions and I, too, used to perform in folk dance troupes.

Peter was born into a warm, culturally rich home that his dad, Alex Chudolij, says is “modeled after the traditional values and home life which Lillianna and I were fortunate to experience during our own childhood. Both of us were extremely active in our respective (Ukrainian) communities.”

Alex, from Rhode Island, studied accordion and Ukrainian folk dancing and Lillianna, from New York, folk danced, sang and acted in her local community. After years of performing and serving as a bandleader at a resort in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Alex moved with his wife, Lillianna, to New Jersey, where he worked as a chemical engineer.

In 1997, the Chudolijs opened their accordion showroom, “Music Magic USA”. Peter enjoys helping his parents with the accordion business and has accompanied them to many AAA and AAMS festivals, a NAMM trade show, the Florida SMASH and many others.

Now in his senior year of high school, Peter is also active in sports, his church, music, dance, Ukrainian school and he is in the National Honor Society. Watching Peter dance with his troupe, Iskra Dance Ensemble, was so exciting for us. They were terrific and Peter was outstanding.

After the performance, I had the opportunity to interview Peter:
Q: Peter, how old were you when you started playing the accordion?
A: Ah, the accordion – I couldn’t escape it. It was always there in the house, calling me, taunting me. Every time I tried the drums, nothing clicked.  The accordion seemed to fit naturally.   I started playing seriously when I was about 12 years old.

Q: Any special memories, as a young child, that really made you want to be an accordionist?
A: The accordion was something I grew up seeing and hearing right from birth. It has been a familiar friend to me my whole life. My father would play for me all the time and my mother would sing.  However, being at the 2007 Coupe Mondiale in Virginia and seeing young performers my age really play all different styles of this instrument is what left the biggest impression on me.

This sparked a desire in me to practice and learn new things from listening and watching all kinds of performers. When I came home from the Coupe Mondiale, all I wanted to do was play, and I did just that every single day for a solid year. Even right before I left for school in the morning, I just had to play even a few notes.

Q: Do you perform with your father?  Do you perform at Ukrainian functions?
A: Yes, we have sometimes performed together at various Ukrainian and International festivals over the past few years.  We’ve also performed separately and together at the Florida Accordion Association’s SMASH 2010 and at the Roland V-Accordion Festival 2011 Special Extravaganza Concert where we were featured as a father and son duo.

Q: I know that you placed in a few accordion competitions. What were these?
A: I don’t have many awards because I never enjoyed competing at the accordion conventions, even though I think I’ve been to almost every AAA Festival since I was five.   I enjoy playing for myself, family, friends and an audience.

I did win a few things:
* Finalist – 2009 Junior Category – Roland V-Accordion Festival Competition
* First Place – 2010 Ethnic Solo – MAMTG Competition
* Second Place – 2012 Junior Category – Roland V-Accordion Festival Competition

Q: When did you start folk dancing?  What groups are you in?
A: I started dancing when I was 4 years old. I took lessons after pre-school from Roma Prima Bohacheska, a prima-ballerina and professional Ukrainian Folk Dance instructor and choreographer. I was a student in her school branched in Newark, NJ.

She had school branches set up all over the Northeast.  When I got older, around 9, I started attending a few of her intense summer Ukrainian dance camps at Verkhovyna and Soyuzivka in Upstate New York. My mother was also her student, back in the day.

Pani Prima, that’s what we all called her (in Ukrainian, Pani means “Mrs.”), was awesome but strict. She taught me discipline and technique. She passed away a few years ago.  I continue dancing under the expert tutelage of Andrij Cybyk, also a veteran of Roma Prima’s school. He is a graduate of the Duquesne University’s world famous Tamburitzans, he has studied with the Virsky Ukrainian National Dance Company, he has toured with many ballet and dance companies as well as with “Riverdance”.

I am fortunate to be in the Iskra Dance Ensemble and Academy of NJ which Mr. Cybyk directs and choreographs.  As part of the Ensemble, I traveled to Arizona this past April where we put on a two hour concert. In this same concert, my father, Alex Chudolij, was a guest performer. He entertained the audience with his accordion skills and repertoire.  

For the past four years, I have also been dancing with the Barvinok Ensemble of NJ under the expert direction of Hryhorij Momot, who himself is a veteran Virsky ballet and folk dancer, choreographer and energetic artist.  As a member of Barvinok’s Ensemble, I will be involved in a Make-A-Wish Foundation fund raiser concert later in October, organized by the St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church of Flemington, NJ.

Q: Having once been an active part of the Baltimore Ukrainian community, I know that being involved in this environment has provided you with a warm and very special childhood.  Can you share some special memories and feelings about being an active “Ukie”?
A: Yes. Being part of the Ukrainian community, I have been constantly immersed in my heritage, and I’m lucky for it! This not only allows me to be in-tune with my culture and its history but it also lets me develop and express my heritage in many ways. Dancing is one of them and so is playing the accordion.

These two things are as much about being Ukrainian as knowing how to write Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) and going Christmas caroling and a whole lot more. I have the greatest opportunities to do this with these dance ensembles but more so through my church, Holy Ascension Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral – Kyivan Patriarch, and my membership, since age 4, in the Ukrainian American Youth Association.

I not only belong to their senior youth dance group, Obriji, and a young male singing quartet, but as a UAYA community, we also put on plays twice a year, go Christmas caroling, enjoy volleyball and soccer tournaments, perform at picnics and festivals, compete in sporting events and annual “brains & brawn” olympiads, attend seminars and fun outings, plus summer camps including leadership, sports, cultural and adventure.  

All the while, I have been blessed with friendships that will last a lifetime and have met people from all over the United States, Canada and Ukraine. Together, we learn and share our culture, learn about current events in Ukraine and how we, as Americans of Ukrainian descent, connect with all of it.

Q: What are your plans for your immediate future (school possibilities, career possibilities)
A: I’m not sure yet what career path to take or which school to attend. I’m still investigating and trying to choose wisely.  I don’t want to rule anything out just yet.

Q: Do you have any other hobbies?
A: Tennis is my passion.  I have been on the Varsity Boys’ Tennis Team all four years of high school. I have lessons every week and I love it! I hope to be competing more this fall and winter before the season starts at school.  I also love archery. I used to shoot weekly when I was younger.  Cars – I love cars, going to the NY International Auto Show at the Javitz Center and the program Top Gear.

Q: Any particular accordionists whom you particularly admire?
A: Ludovic Beier, Orosz Zoltan, Vladimir Denissenkov, Cory Pesaturo, Vladimir Mollov, and, of course, my father Alex Chudolij.