CategoryUkraine

An orchestra of Ukrainian refugees will take centre stage at this year’s Proms, alongside concerts by Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Cynthia Erivo.

The newly-formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra features players who recently fled the war, alongside Ukrainian musicians from European orchestras.

Ukraine is granting an exemption to the military-age male musicians, allowing them to leave the country and play.

Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson said they would “honour those who have died”.

The orchestra will perform at the Proms on 31 July, two weeks after the Proms season launches.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-61215906

Shchedryk Children’s Choir from Kyiv, one of Ukraine’s most-recognized youth musical ensembles, was poised to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year with new recordings and a world tour.

Then, on Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine.

The choir had to halt all rehearsals and celebratory plans as children and their families scattered across Ukraine. Some fled the country, while others sheltered in their homes.

But the choir has still managed to find ways to share their music with the world, thanks, in part, to the efforts of Danish Argentinian Israeli conductor Saul Zaks.

Zaks immediately got to work on the new mission, contacting international choirs and children’s organizations to spread the word and find ways to share the music.

In collaboration with Choir of the Earth, Zaks has put out a request to global children’s choirs to perform a traditional folk song from the Shchedryk Children’s Choir repertoire called “Rocking the Sun to Sleep.”

https://theworld.org/stories/2022-04-19/kyiv-children-s-choir-s-world-tour-was-canceled-amid-war-conductor-finding-other

Her voice soaring out above a large audience, many of them waving the lights on their phones in support, seven-year-old Amelia Anisovych sang the Ukrainian national anthem at a charity event for Ukraine in Poland. Anisovych became known around the world through a viral video of her singing ‘Let It Go’, from Disney’s “Frozen”, for other families sharing a bunker with her family in Ukraine.

Illia Bondarenko, 20, recorded himself playing a Ukrainian folk song on his violin and posted it on Instagram, asking for others to join in support of his people. “The meaning is that now everybody, every person in Ukraine and in the whole world is a soldier in their own battlefield. Not only for musicians but for all people. Music is the best language to say emotions because in that horrible situation, sometimes words, it’s not enough. I think now every human in the world should say something about the situation and support Ukraine,” Bondarenko said in his video. The response was stunning: nearly 100 violinists from around the world created their own videos. In a compilation video, they play alongside him, pledging their support to the Ukrainian cause. One of the violinists who made his own recording said, “The violin has always had that ability to sing from the heart in a way. Any little bit we can do to help, we’re willing to do.”