Russian-Ukrainian war: scattered around the world, Ukrainian musicians unite against aggression

Russia’s invasion has ruined cultural life in Ukraine, forcing well -known musical ensembles to disband and causing a exodus of directors, composers and performers.

Today some of Ukraine’s leading artists, with the help of the New York Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera in Warsaw, are coming together to use music to express resistance to Russia’s ongoing attacks.

They will form a new ensemble, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, and tour 11 cities in Europe and the United States in July and August, the orchestra announced Monday.

“It’s something we can do for our country and for our people,” said Marko Komonko, a Ukrainian violinist who will serve as the orchestra’s concertmaster. “Not too much, but it’s our job.”

The journey

The orchestra with 75 members, to consist of Ukrainian refugees and musicians still in the country, it will perform at various European festivals, including the BBC Proms in London for a television show on 31 July.

He will stop in Germany, France, Scotland and the Netherlands, before traveling to the United States to perform at Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center in Washington. Proceeds from the concerts will benefit Ukrainian artists.

The orchestra will be led by Ukrainian-Canadian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, who has an idea for the ensemble, who is eager to find a way to help musicians and others in Ukraine.

“Soldiers of Music”

“We want to show the troubled citizens of Ukraine that a free and democratic world supports them,” Wilson said.

“We are fighting as artistic soldiers, musical soldiers. It gives musicians the voice and emotional strength to transcend it. “

Wilson revealed the idea to his wife, Peter Gelb, general manager of the Met, who offered the company’s support and urged the Polish National Opera to help as well.

The orchestra will meet in mid-July in Warsaw for rehearsals and will give an opening concert at the Wielki Theater, home of the Polish National Opera.

Gelb said it was important for art groups to speak out against Russia’s aggression. Shortly after the aggression began, the Met announced that it would not take on artists or institutions that support Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.

Last month, the Met a concert in support of Ukraine; banners forming the Ukrainian flag stretched outside the theater, bathed in blue and yellow spotlights.

“It’s a situation in the world that’s more than just politics,” Gelb said. “It is about the salvation of mankind. The Met, as the largest performing arts company in the United States and one of the leading companies in the world, clearly has a role to play and we are playing it. ”

The Freedom Orchestra will present a variety of works, including Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s Seventh Symphony; Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with the participation of Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova; The Fourth Symphony of Brahms; and Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony.

Renowned Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska, who now plays the title role in Puccini’s “Turandot” at the Met, will perform an aria from Beethoven’s “Fidelio” that discusses themes of hope and peace.

The musicians represent a mix of Ukrainian ensembles, including the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra, the kyiv National Opera and the Kharkiv Opera. Some are part of European ensembles, such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, the Tonkunstler Orchestra in Vienna and the Belgian National Orchestra.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture will allow male musicians from the orchestra to take part in the tour, despite rules prohibiting men of military age from leaving the country, the group said.

Komonko, the violinist who left Ukraine last month with his family for Sweden, where he plays in an orchestra, said music can be a distraction from violence.

“When you go through all of this, you look at music differently, through different lenses,” he said. “It distracts me from the war. It allows people to move on with life.

Source: The New York Times

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