


Vegreville Pysanka Festival - July 7 - 8 - 9 2023
Brandon Hachkowski & Zenon Horobec
Showcase Stage
Saturday, July 8, 2023

Jam Session Tent
in Pioneer Village
Drop In / Stop In
All Weekend! (July 7-8-9 2023)
Jam Sessions with Brandon
Kick up your heels and dance the polka to a full weekend's worth of good old time western Canadian Ukrainian music with Brandon Hachkowski underneath the Ukrainian jam session tent located within the pioneer village.
Bring your instruments and share your Ukrainian musical talents!
Brandon Hachkowski was born in St. Catherines Ontario and raised throughout the Niagara region. Since he was knee-high, Brandon always had the liking to Western Canadian Ukrainian music and developed the passion after watching his father play on Tysmbaly and fiddle.
To encourage Brandon's interest in music, Brandon's parents started Brandon on fiddle. After a year of taking fiddle lessons, Brandon's interest switched from the fiddle and grew towards the Accordion and Tsymbaly. Throughout the next couple years, Brandon continued to play Accordion and Tsymbaly and he always played along side Ukrainian Records to learn new songs.
In 2017 at the age of 12, Brandon and his family took a trip to Winnipeg Manitoba to attend a Zabava dance by the Ukrainian old-timers band. The accordion player of the band Nestor Shydlowsky was Brandon 's Idol on accordion. Brandon adored Nestor's Style. During the zabava Nestor invited Brandon to do a couple tunes on stage with the accordion. This inspired Brandon's passion to playing further and excelled his love of Ukrainian music.
In January of 2022 Brandon and his family took a trip to Edmonton Alberta and that's when they met Dwayne and Irene Pankiw. After one impromptu jam session on this trip it was like they were family. This is when the Hachkowski family fell in Love with Alberta and decided to move there in August of 2022.
Brandon is now taking his music hobby to the next step and is now playing gigs in Vegreville and the surrounding area. Brandon was also able to aquire Nestor Shydlowsky's Accordion after he passed in 2020. Brandon cherishes that deeply.
Brandon quotes. "It is my job to promote and preserve the Western Canadian Ukrainian music for generations to come just like Nestor did." Brandon's passion for Western Canadian Ukrainian music comes from his blood and that will never stop.

17 years old from Vita Manitoba, Zenon Horobec started playing fiddle at 9 years old and it would not be long after, his heart lead him to playing music from his roots.
Zenon has a passion for Ukrainian music from our pioneers, that have shaped Ukrainian music to what it is today ! He has performed at many events with his band Ukie Fusion and looks forward to jamming in any spare time he has! He will be attending University of Manitoba in fall pursuing a Science / Engineeering degree.
Brandon and Zenon met through social media living in different provinces. They ended up meeting last year and recording a tune together before they even met in person. Here they are together ready to entertain you with the energy of 2 seventeen year olds !