Newly formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will tour to raise funds for war victims
This summer the Metropolitan Opera will collaborate with the Teatr Wielki–Polish National Opera to form the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra. The new orchestra will be composed of leading Ukrainian musicians who are recent refugees. They will tour Europe and the United States this summer, with proceeds from those concerts going to assist the victims of the war in Ukraine.
Scheduled from July 28 through August 20, the orchestra’s tour will start in Europe before ending with concerts at Lincoln Center in New York on Aug. 18 and 19, and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 20. The program will include Valentin Silvestrov’s Seventh Symphony; Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by Anna Fedorova; “Abscheulicher!” from Ludwig van Beethoven’s Fidelio, performed by soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska; and either Johannes Brahms’ Fourth Symphony or Antonin Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony.
Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson will lead the combined orchestra.
“I wanted to bring the best orchestral musicians of Ukraine together, from both inside and outside of their country, in a proud display of artistic unity,” she said. “I look forward to leading these gifted musicians across Europe and to the United States. This tour is an expression of love for their homeland and to honor those who have died and have suffered so much.”