Roman Shwed's radio program

Roman welcomes his guests is a lovely hour-long weekly radio program of music and interesting commentary with host Roman Shwed.

I had the good fortune to meet this charming Ukrainian-born, American-raised Ukrainian patriot at Kupidon bar in Kyiv this past September. (Many thanks to Vasyl for arranging the meeting.)

I'd love to return to Kyiv and spend much more time chatting with both of these wonderful guys. But until then, I'll have to content myself with following Vasyl's blog and tuning in to Roman's program which airs here Thursdays at 5 pm. Kyiv time.

The first time I tuned in was to a program that Roman pre-recorded, to air when he was off to the U.S. for a high school reunion. What I found particularly delightful about that program (which was a tribute to Kvitka Cisyk) is the way he discussed the music ... the song itself, the artist, the mood it creates, even the effect that Ukrainian music has on listeners.

The commentary was completely in Ukrainian, but he speaks at a nice, normal pace that North American Ukrainians are used to ... unlike at the frenzied double-speed that many Ukrainian commentators have taken to, and that even the fluent amongst us have trouble following because it's so fast! He also throws in an English word or two which is quite fun. :-)

You can catch Roman's program here.

To listen, you'll need to download RealPlayer, otherwise you'll get a "Web page cannot be displayed" response. Once you do connect, sit back and enjoy!