Their stay in the Polish capital is in preparation for a series of concerts of Ukrainian and Polish music, which begins at Warsaw’s National Philharmonic Hall on April 21 and is followed by a stop in the central city of Łódź on April 23, with subsequent concerts in Germany's Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg and Dresden.
Welcoming the Ukrainian musicians at their first rehearsal on Monday at the Witold Lutosławski Polish Radio Concert Hall, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Piotr Gliński, who is also minister for culture, said they were facing "the highly important task of conveying to the European public the truth about Russian war crimes" in Ukraine.
“You have to support your nation, your state, your president and all of us, people of good will, and convince the Western public about the need for real sanctions against Russia," Gliński said.
"We have to act together and end this war with the help of all countries,” he added.
The executive director of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, Anna Stavytchenko, thanked the Polish Ministry of Culture, the Institute of Music and Dance, the National Philharmonic and Polish Radio for the assistance they offered to Ukrainian musicians.
“For us, it is very important to be the voice of Ukraine during these tragic and dark times, and make the audience discover, and hopefully enjoy, Ukrainian music,” she said.
The upcoming concerts by the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra will feature works by leading Ukrainian composers Maxim Berezovsky, Myroslav Skoryk and Boris Lyatoshynsky, as well as music by Polish 19th-century composer Henryk Wieniawski performed by Polish violinist Janusz Wawrowski.
In all the concerts, the orchestra will be conducted by Luigi Gaggero, its music director since 2018.
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Click on the audio player above for a report by Radio Poland's Agnieszka Bielawska.