MARYNA KRUT

July 15, 2025 / Doors: 7:00 PM / Show: 7:30 PM

All Ages

Seated

This is a seated show with general admission, first-come-first-served seating. The Cedar is happy to reserve seats for patrons who require special seating accommodations. To request access accommodations, please go to our

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Maryna Krut, more famous as KRUTЬ, is a renowned Ukrainian singer and songwriter. Sole innovator of bandura (Ukrainian traditional string instrument) in the soul genre. The Voice of Ukraine and The X Factor participant. A unique combination of atmospheric voice and extraordinary musical elegance of bandura.

Maryna Krut embodies not just the soul of Ukrainian music but also its indomitable spirit in the face of adversity. She, along with her fellow musicians, are turning battlefields into stages, bringing hope and comfort directly to the front lines. Their music isn't just a performance; it's a powerful symbol of unity, resilience, and defiance against the backdrop of war.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine transformed Maryna Krut from being a performer updating a beautiful tradition of music to being a witness testifying to people around the world about the devastating war in her homeland.

These days, the 28-year-old musician leads a double life. From her temporary home in the west of Ukraine, she travels to the front lines of the war to perform for soldiers. And she also travels abroad to perform, relating what she has seen—and thanking audiences for their support of the Ukrainian people.

Maryna plays the bandura, a Ukrainian string instrument that looks like a cross between a lute and a zither. Steeped as a child in her country’s traditional music, she now incorporates some non-traditional elements into her playing, principally jazz, using it both as a solo instrument and to accompany her powerful singing.

The bandura, has a long and singular history in Ukraine. When Maryna first heard the instrument’s sweet plucked strings, she had no idea of the bandura’s role in social justice and the persecution of its early players. The instrument's predecessor – the kobza, was long associated with itinerant blind musicians called Kobzars. The tradition of singing with the kobza developed in parallel as the Kozaks – freedom fighters for liberating Ukrainian lands from the Ottomans, Russians, and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Kobzars’ songs praised national heroes, and taught morals based on the Eastern Orthodox Church. With origins as far back as the 1500s, Kobzars in the 1800s were predominantly blind men unable to do farm work who were taught music through apprenticeships. Under Tsarist and Soviet rule, bandura players—along with others promoting Ukrainian culture or calling attention to social injustice—were often oppressed, arrested, sent to die in the gulags, or murdered. Even today, in the Russia-occupied regions of Ukraine, bandurists hide their instruments for fear that Russian soldiers would target them.

Recognizing the power of her instrument, Maryna uses it to counter the Russian colonial narrative and uplift the spirits of the modern “Kozaks,” as many call Ukrainian soldiers today.

“After the invasion, people are trying to find their own history, and trying to find the existential reason why they need to fight and why they need to be Ukrainian,” Maryna said. “Especially musicians, we are trying to find our history. First, when you think about the instrument, you just love the sound. But after you understand the history, after you understand why this is Ukrainian, you see why this instrument is so special.”

Maryna plays a 55-year-old Chernihiv-style bandura, called that because it was built at a musical instrument factory in the city of Chernihiv. With the development of new types of banduras, new techniques of playing the instrument appeared.  Maryna, however, has also developed her own additional methods of playing, such as lightly muting the strings with her legs to change their sound.

In Ukraine, she gained a national following after appearances on that country’s versions of “The X Factor” and “The Voice” as well as placing in Eurovision. 

The Cedar hosted Maryna, what seems a lifetime ago on October 1, 2024. We are honored to welcome her back during this critical moment as she expands her audience, bringing the story and culture of Ukraine to the world.

To learn more about MARYNA KRUT:

• Visit her Instagram page here

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis, United States