Jerry Jumba is a nationally recognized artist whose accomplishments include several grant awards to further his work as a collector, educator and practitioner of Carpatho-Rus’ chants and songs. Additionally, Jumba writes and arranges his own music.
Sheet music photo taken by Amy E. Skillman, Institute for Cultural Partnerships.
Jerry Jumba Carpatho-Rus' and East Slovak Secular and Sacred Song
(Spirituality)
“Folk arts are an expression of the human spirit that rises above the mundane, and brings an artistic sense of well-being and connectedness to the goodness of life. As an inheritor of this song tradition, I try to keep its joy and beauty alive, and creative.”
Jerry Jumba was born into a heavily Rusyn community north of Pittsburgh. Through congregational participation and apprenticeship with five European-born Cantor-Teachers, he learned Eastern Christian Chant of Carpatho-Rus’ (geographically centered in Transcarpathia, Western Ukraine, Eastern Slovakia, and Northern Hungary). Jumba also collects Carpatho-Rus’ and Eastern Slovak secular song from master artists. Fluent in these languages and dialects, he has transcribed, performed, and translated these texts since 1969.
Jumba created the chant curriculum for the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of the U.S., has published three song collections, is a founder of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, and has established twelve Carpatho-Rus’ music ensembles throughout the U.S. Also, at the request of the Warhol family, Jumba served as the cantor for artist Andy Warhol’s funeral.
