Yevhen Stankovych — laureate of the 2026 Taras Shevchenko National Prize

Yevhen Stankovych became laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize 2026 — Ukraine's highest state award in culture and art. The Shevchenko Prize Committee decision was announced 9 March 2026 — on Taras Shevchenko's birthday. This is the third Shevchenko Prize in the composer's life (first — 1977 for Symphony No. 3 'I Assert', second — 2002 for the opera 'Fern Flower'). The grounds for the award were the Committee's decision regarding 'Yevhen Fedorovych Stankovych's overall contribution to the development of the national composers' school over 60 years of creative work, including the creation of Symphony No. 5 «Sun Over the Trenches» (2026) as the pinnacle of national wartime experience reflection'. Stankovych redirected the laureate's prize (monetary, in the amount of 240 thousand UAH) to the Composers' Union of Ukraine for scholarships for young mobilized composers. The prize award ceremony was held in Kyiv at the Teacher's House with the participation of Ukraine's President Olha Stefanyshyn, Composers' Union chair Volodymyr Zubytskyi, academician Myroslava Khvylova. Stankovych, who could not personally attend due to health state, transmitted a video address with gratitude and a brief appeal to young Ukrainian composers: 'Hold to your voice. In times of collective scream it's easy to get lost — but it's the individual hearing voice that saves culture.'