The Ukrainian orchestra will perform in Warsaw. What is known about the European tour of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra?

On Sunday, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will start its second European tour. The first concert will take place on Sunday in Warsaw. The Ukrainian musicians will then perform at the Barbican Center in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg, Lucerne Festival, and on the outdoor stage in Berlin on August 24 on the occasion of Ukraine's Independence Day.

After last year's successful tour of Europe and the United States, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will once again perform for a European audience.

The first concert will take place on August 20 in Warsaw. Rehearsals have been taking place in the capital of Poland for over a week.

The repertoire is prepared by a Canadian conductor with Ukrainian roots, Keri-Lynn Wilson.

“I am proud to once again conduct my brave musicians from the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra. We continue to defend Ukraine on the cultural front and fight for our freedom," Wilson said in a video recorded during one of the rehearsals.

https://twitter.com/kerilynnwilson/status/1689649816673144834

The orchestra gathered musicians from all over Ukraine

The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra was founded in 2022 on the initiative of the management of the National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera. In Warsaw, they are happy that the musicians will perform on their stage again.

"I am deeply convinced that it will be an artistic success, and in a moral and political sense, a voice carrying President Zelensky's message: do not get used to our suffering", said Waldemar Dombrowski, director of the National Opera, in an interview with RDC radio. According to him, the members of the orchestra know that they represent their country at a very special historical moment.

I don't want to say that they are soldiers, because they are artists, but with an extraordinary sense of mission
The orchestra consists of 74 musicians from different parts of Ukraine: from the National Opera of Ukraine, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Lviv National Opera and the Odessa National Opera, the Lviv Philharmonic, the National Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kharkiv National Opera and other well-known Ukrainian musical ensembles.

The European tour will be held under the patronage of First Lady Olena Zeleńska. "The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is the musical voice of Ukraine. Music is a universal and understandable language without translation, which we can use to speak to the world. I invite you to the concerts of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra during the summer Freedom Tour 2023 to hear the always up-to-date message of freedom brought by the eternal classic" Zelenska wrote.

The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra wants to present itself in the most important classical works, as well as to popularize Ukrainian music

With their concerts, they express the desire for freedom and solidarity with the victims of war, adds Valdemar Dombrovskyi.

This year's programme, which consists of Verdi's overture "The Power of Fate", a violin concerto by the Ukrainian composer and the 18th symphony, is not only a musical masterpiece, but also a cultural one in general. The work, created in 824, is still considered a great anthem in honor of freedom Carey-Lynn Wilson also included Beethoven's most important work in her repertoire - Symphony No. 9, which will be sung by the Choir of the Polish Opera in Bialystok and four Ukrainian soloists. The rest of the tour will consist of a program including Violin Concerto No. 2 by Yevhen Stankowicz and Symphony No. 3 "Eroica" by Ludwig van Beethoven.

During the concert at the National Opera in Warsaw, the choir of the Piedlas Opera and Philharmonic will sing the famous "Ode to Joy" in Ukrainian.

The official start of the tour will take place on Sunday at 19:00 at the Grand Theater - National Opera in Warsaw. On August 22, the orchestra will perform in Gdańsk.