The orchestra that was born “to show Putin that you cannot reduce Ukrainian silence”: “I wanted to turn my horror into action”

The Ukrainian Freedom orchestra was created immediately after Vladimir Putin started the war and supports recitals around the world in which the horrors through which the Ukrainians passed over 3 and a half years. On Monday, he had a representation in Bucharest at the George Enescu Festival. In an interview then offered to Free Europe, the conductor Keri Lynn Wilson said that the establishment of the orchestra and the presence at festivals is a direct message addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“” I was terrified by the actions taken by Putin and his regime to invade Ukraine. I am a proud Canadian-Ukrainian and I wanted to take measures immediately. I wanted to turn my horror into action. I thought to create an orchestra of the best musicians in Ukraine, who could not represent them Culture, and our mission is to fight on the cultural front and present the Ukrainian culture, ”she said.

The continuation of the war is an impediment including for the orchestra as it is made up of 75 members of which almost 40 are currently living in Ukraine. For the men in this orchestra to leave the country, special permission is needed by the authorities. Moreover, he lost a member, one of the orchestra's percussionists, who was recruited and is on the front.

Recitals show the horrors in Ukraine

Recitals have the role of presenting in detail the events that are happening in Ukraine. In the opening of the concert in Bucharest, the suite composition of the “Mothers of Kherson” opera of the Ukrainian Kolomiiets, which transposes the drama of the Herson mothers who lost their kidnapped children, was interpreted.

“Buccea is very important to us. It is a work written by my colleague, the Ukrainian composer Victoria Poleva. She escaped from Kiev right at the beginning of the invasion and had to go through Buccea and saw the horrors. So she put all the emotion in this beautiful work, which is strong and gives us a light,”

Although it was established as a reaction to the triggering of the war by Putin, the end of the conflict will not lead to the abolition of the orchestra. “After the war, we plan a tour of victory and go on tour in Ukraine and, of course, we will continue to continue as a symbol of the great truth of good on evil,” explains Lynn Wilson.

Before participating in the Enescu Festival, Ukranian Freedom sang on the world's great scenes – BBC Proms and Barbican, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonia in Hamburg, Lincoln Center in New York and Kennedy Center in Washington DC,