Kvitka Cisyk "Kasey Cisyk 1989 013" by brentramsey.com is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Her voice “seems woven from the most delicate notes and feelings: sincerity, sorrow, and heavenly joy. Once heard, it sinks deep into the heart to awaken the innermost strings of the soul, which will never be silent again. Only angels sing like this when they come down to earth for a while…
Natalia Pozniak-Khomenko, poet
Kvitka Cisyk (artistic pseudonym Kasey) was an American singer of Ukrainian descent, called the “voice of Ukraine,” an opera and blues singer, and a performer of Ukrainian folk and popular songs.
The singer was born on April 4, 1953, in New York City to Ivanna and Volodymyr Cisyk, representatives of the third wave of emigration. Like most children of immigrants, she attended a typical American school, and on Saturdays, she attended a Ukrainian school. She spent all her vacations in Plast camps, where she learned essential survival skills, learned to be proud of her people, and earned a degree in scouting.
Kvitka was a gifted and talented child. She excelled at playing the violin, which her father, a professional violinist, taught her and her older sister Maria. With her excellent natural talents, she studied at the ballet school of the famous ballerina Roma Pryima and even performed the lead role in the ballet Cinderella.
But most of all, Kvitka was in love with singing. As a child, she sang in a choir with the future pop king Michael Jackson. She got her musical education at the High School of Music and Art in New York City and Harper College in Bigmont. Kvitka Cisyk had a well-pitched coloratura soprano voice and was predicted to be an opera star. However, the singer became famous for performing movie soundtracks, various backing tracks, and advertising jingles.
In 1977, Kvitka’s artistic career soared to success with the release of the film “You Light Up My Life,” featuring the mesmerizing vocals of K. Cisyk, who performed the songs of the main character. The movie got the prestigious Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Best Song in 1978. But the singer’s greatest fame came from her collaboration with Ford Motor Company, for which she recorded advertising jingles for many years.
In 1983, Kvitka visited Ukraine with her mother. Kvitka’s two albums, “Kvitka” (“Songs of Ukraine,” 1980) and “Two Colors” (1989) which she recorded in New York at her own expense, made an invaluable contribution to the popularization of Ukrainian songs in the world. The singer planned to release a third album with lullabies or contemporary songs but couldn’t make it.
Kvitka Cisyk died on March 29, 1998, in New York.
