As a gesture of solidarity with the victims of the war in Ukraine, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Grand Theatre – National Opera in Warsaw, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (MKiDN), decided to create the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, a musical ensemble comprising leading Ukrainian instrumentalists.
The musicians began rehearsals on 18 July in Warsaw. The opening concert of the tour will take place on Thursday 28 July at the Grand Theatre – National Opera. The costs of its organisation and the musicians’ stay in Warsaw are financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.
The orchestra will then perform at the BBC Proms in London (31.07), in Munich (1.08); at the Chorégies d’Orange Festival in southern France (2.08), at the Berlin Konzerthaus (4. 08), at the Edinburgh Festival (6.08), at the Snape Maltings Concert Hall (8.08), at the Concertgebouw Festival in Amsterdam (11.08), at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie (13.08) and at the National Concert Hall in Dublin (15.08). The orchestra will then fly to the USA, where it will give concerts at New York’s Lincoln Center (18 and 19.08) and the Kennedy Center in Washington (20.08).
On Tuesday, 26 July, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Culture and National Heritage Prof. Piotr Gliński met with the musicians of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra at the Grand Theatre – National Opera.
“The world is currently indifferent to war and to evil. We cannot agree to this. Culture and music, above all of Ukrainian, but also of Polish origin, serves as a weapon against the threat to good and democracy posed by the Russian Federation”, said Deputy Prime Minister Gliński during the meeting.
The members of the orchestra are Ukrainian musicians on a daily basis associated with, among others, the Kyiv National Opera, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kharkiv Opera, as well as with such foreign ensembles as the Tonkünstler Orchestra in Vienna, the Belgian National Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Adrian Andrzejewski