This winter, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU) (2/25) visits Merchant Hall as part of its first tour in the U.S. since conflict in its country began. When reflecting on the opportunity to tour again, the orchestra shared “The NSOU team remains true to our country and our people by continuing our creative efforts in the face of adversity.”
Letting the music continue has been among the orchestra’s top priorities since the conflict started. In an interview leading up to a tour performance in Taiwan in August of 2023, Volodymyr Sirenko, the orchestra’s conductor, described how in February 2022 the ensemble performed concerts in Ukraine that were sometimes interrupted by air raid alerts. Both audience members and musicians would then retreat to air raid shelters, where the musicians continued performing to calm people’s nerves. He noted, “It is important that we bring music to the people, especially during wartime.”
Sirenko has been artistic director and conductor of the NSOU since 1999. Highlights among hundreds of programs that he has performed with the orchestra include cycles of Gustav Mahler’s complete symphonies, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and all four Passions, and Lyatoshynsky’s complete symphonies. He has recorded more than 50 CDs, of which, Silvestrov’s Requiem for Larissa was nominated for a GRAMMY Award in 2005. Sirenko has worked with many international orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, NOSPR (Katowice), the Bratislava Radio Symphony, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and the Brooklyn Philharmonic.
The NSOU’s concert at the Hylton Center also welcomes soloist and internationally renowned cellist Natalia Khoma, who is the first and only Ukrainian cellist to have won the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition. The concert’s repertoire will include work by Ukrainian composer Dmitry Bortniansky, Johannes Brahms uplifting Symphony No. 2, and Khoma alongside the NSOU performing Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto. Join us on February 25 at 2 p.m. for their meaningful return to the Hylton Center.