Kostiantyn Dankevych (1905–1984) was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher, one of the leading representatives of the Odesa composing school. He made a significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian opera and ballet music of the 20th century.
His most famous work is the monumental historical opera “Bohdan Khmelnytsky,” devoted to the era of the Cossack liberation struggle. Dankevych also wrote the ballet “Lileia” after the work of Taras Shevchenko, the opera “Nazar Stodolia,” symphonies, cantatas, and chamber music. For a long time he headed the Union of Composers of Ukraine and taught at the Odesa Conservatory, raising a galaxy of pupils. Dankevych's work rests firmly on the Ukrainian folk-song tradition, raised to the scale of great academic forms.
