The two-week tour, preceded by rehearsals in Warsaw, will open with a concert in the Polish capital on August 14. It will continue with performances in Wrocław in southwestern Poland, Lucerne in Switzerland, the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Jūrmala in Latvia, Bucharest in Romania, Amsterdam and London.
The ensemble comprises musicians from Ukrainian orchestras who fled war-affected areas, as well as Ukrainian performers affiliated with European orchestras.
Led by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra was founded in 2022 as a joint initiative by the Polish National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
The orchestra’s wide-ranging programme features works by Ukrainian composers, including the suite from the opera The Mothers of Kherson by Maxim Kolomiiets—a Metropolitan Opera commission inspired by the testimonies of mothers whose children were taken during the war—and Bucha. Lacrimosa by Victoria Poleva, a piece honouring victims of the Russian invasion.
The programme also includes Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from the opera Tristan and Isolde, and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs with American soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen. Romanian violinist Alexandra Cocunova will perform Max Bruch's Violin Concerto.
The 2025 tour is funded by the Kovner Foundation, Berry Charitable Foundation and philanthropist Ann Ziff. It is organised by the Polish National Opera in cooperation with the Askonas Holt agency.
(mk/gs)