Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra to Perform in Eight European Cities
This summer, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is embarking on its fourth tour.
The Gaze writes about it, referring to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine.
The concerts will take place from 14 to 29 August in Poland (Warsaw and Wrocław), Switzerland (Lucerne), Lithuania (Vilnius), Latvia (Jūrmala), Romania (Bucharest, two concerts), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and the United Kingdom (London). The performances are planned in countries that have expressed unwavering support for Ukraine during the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war.
This time, two works by Ukrainian composers will be performed on the tour, according to the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra website.
As part of the tour, a new powerful work by Maxim Kolomiets will premiere in all countries - a suite from the opera ‘Mothers of Kherson’, commissioned jointly by the Metropolitan Opera (USA) and the Polish National Opera in Warsaw. The premiere of the production about the return of Ukrainian mothers kidnapped by Russia is scheduled for 2026.
Only in Bucharest, as in previous years' tours, will the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra present the moving composition ‘Bucha: Lacrimosa’ to foreign audiences, dedicated to the memory of Ukrainians innocently killed as a result of Russia's military aggression. Ukrainian composer Viktoria Polyova wrote it in 2022.
In this second special concert as part of the tour in Bucharest on 26 August — at the George Enescu Festival — two more works will be performed. American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen will sing Johann Strauss's moving ‘Four Last Songs’. Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 8 in G major will also be performed.
The main programme of the first concert of the tour in Bucharest on 25 August will be complemented by a work by composer Max Bruch. Violin Concerto No. 1 will be performed by Moldovan-born violinist Alexandra Konunova.
All the main concerts of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra tour will feature the prelude and final part of Liebestod from Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde. The soloist will be star soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen from the United States.
The programme also includes Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor as a symbol of resilience and hope.
The tour brings together supporters from many countries at a crucial moment for Ukraine, which continues to defend its sovereignty and cultural identity, the organisers emphasise.
The founding conductor and music director of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is Keri-Lynn Wilson, a Canadian-American maestro of Ukrainian descent. It was created in 2022 with leading Ukrainian musicians immediately after Russia's full-scale invasion of our country in 2022 as an initiative to support and defend Ukrainian culture and the independent European state of Ukraine, which is fighting for its freedom.
The creative activity of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is the result of cooperation between the Metropolitan Opera, the Polish National Opera and the Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine. The honorary patron of the orchestra is the First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, conducted by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, performed at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C., to a full house.