London, Europe Brief News – The opening week of the BBC Proms will feature a newly formed Ukrainian orchestra that includes refugees and musicians who have been exempt from fighting.
The newly-formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra features players who recently fled the war, alongside Ukrainian musicians from European orchestras.
The move will be a “powerful statement”, the event’s organisers said.
The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, which will play on 21 July and will be led by the conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, includes 75 military-age musicians from European orchestras who have been granted military exemptions from Ukraine’s Ministry for Culture.
David Pickard, the Proms director, said many in the British arts world have felt helpless as the conflict in Ukraine has escalated but that the orchestra’s presence would help. “I think everybody who’s involved in this project believes that is such a powerful statement to put these people together,” he said.
Pickard also confirmed that unlike some other cultural events, Russian musicians and conductors have not been banned from performing at the Proms, which this year features 84 concerts and more than 3,000 performers from across the world.
Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson said they would “honour those who have died”.
Russia’s two-month-old invasion of Ukraine, the biggest attack on a European state since 1945, has left thousands dead or wounded, reduced towns and cities to rubble and forced more than 5 million people to flee abroad.
