History

The Ukrainian Music Institute of America, Inc. (UMI) is the oldest, largest, and only professional, non-profit music education organization of the Ukrainian diaspora. Founded in 1952 in New York by Professor Roman Sawycky, Sr, the Institute has spread to 22 cities, opening up branches across the United States. This network of UMI branches was based on the Lysenko Advanced Music Institute in Lviv (Ukraine) and satellite cities where UMI's original faculty taught during the 1930s. Their names are a litany of outstanding Ukrainian musicians of the 20th century.