On December 13, the Gala concert of the “Sound of Ukraine” project was held in the large hall of the Berlin Philharmonic. It was called “Sounds of Ukraine to the Free World.”
As emphasized by the owner of the publishing house “Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag”, Mrs. Sandman, who decided to become a partner of the project. She justifies her decision as follows: “Six strong women of Ukraine and Germany: Bohdana Pivnenko (violin), Violina Petrychenko (piano), Mala Yemde (actress), Cornelia Lantz (singer) Oreli Bros (author of the book “Light from the Dark: Letters of Ukrainian Women free world”) and the producer and author of the project Iryna Frenkel (the head of the concert agency “OPEN MUSIC PROJECT”, united to tell the world about Ukraine, the tragedy of the war through the lens of women’s fate and talk about the need to protect artists of Ukraine. This charity project is completely different from a large number of other projects in support of Ukraine, which are taking place in Germany and other European countries, primarily due to the high professionalism of the performers. There was not a dry eye in the 2,000-seat concert hall this evening – such a strong impression was made by music from Ukraine, voices from Ukraine and letters from of Ukraine to the audience”.
Members of the Bundestag, ambassadors of diplomatic missions of countries around the world could be seen in the hall.
At the beginning of the charity gala concert “The Sound of Ukraine – to the Free World” the Vice President of the Bundestag, Catherine Göring-Eckhardt, addressed the audience.In addition to the musical topic, she also touched on politics, expressing her hope that “the systems that everyone is talking about a lot now – the Taurus missiles – will be transferred to Ukraine.” She also emphasized that the peace for Ukraine should be just, Ukrainians should live in a free country, not an occupied country: “Your music is a message to Vladimir Putin: Ukraine will win!” – emphasized the vice-president of the German parliament.
The Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany, Oleksiy Makeev, assured that Ukrainians 
will do everything so that we can celebrate a peaceful Christmas together in the 21st century. Currently, quiet nights are provided to Ukrainians by, among other things, the German Gepard self-propelled guns, the Iris-T and Patriot systems. Makeev said that culture is the best message, the best diplomacy. Mykola Leontovich’s “Shchedrik” in the Berlin Philharmonic shows that the tradition of cultural diplomacy continues, because for more than 100 years, in 1920, this melody, which at that time was just beginning its journey around the world, was played there by the Oleksandr Kosyts choir.
You could learn about the history of carols at a stand exhibition organized by the representative office of the Ukrainian Institute in Germany in the lobby of the Philharmonic. Its head, Kateryna Ritz-Rakul, sees it as her task to convey the diversity of Ukrainian culture to Germans, so that they think about our country not only in the context of the war Russia is currently waging against it, but as a beautiful country with rich culture and traditions. The author of the exhibition is Tina Peresunko, a well-known researcher on the topic of cultural diplomacy.
Classical works, full of emotions and energy, emphasized the identity of Ukraine:
The concert program presented Ukrainian and European world masterpieces. Under the instrument of Teodor Kuhar, Yevgeny Stankovich’s Overture “The Night Before Christmas” was played, Jan Sibelius’s Violin Concerto with Orchestra (soloist, People’s Artist of Ukraine Bohdana Pivnenko), who demonstrated impeccable virtuosity and filled the large hall of the Philharmonic with crazy energy, which caused a flurry of applause from the audience, and Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”. As the general director – artistic director Volodymyr Sivokhyp noted: “Ukraine itself is now a symbol of the new world, a symbol of indomitability, a symbol of freedom.” The performance of the musicians of the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra was brilliant, highly inspired, as evidenced by the applause that erupted after each piece.
The organizer of the Charity Gala – Concert, the head of the “OPEN MUSIC PROJECT” concert agency, Mrs. Iryna Frеnkel, spoke about the “SOUND of UKRAINE” project and its finale: “The “SOUND of UKRAINE” project aims to support the grassroots initiative “SAVE UKRAINIAN CULTURE”, which unites more than 200 organizations. The main coordinator of the platform’s work is the international charitable foundation “Ukrainian Artistic Renaissance”, created to support artists who remain in Ukraine and provide opportunities for creative and professional self-realization. For me personally, as the organizer of this project, it was important to fill the program in such a way that, without unnecessary slogans, everyone present understood what pain we are going through and what a strong nation. Ukrainians”.
We were able to unite women from Germany and Ukraine, who each told their own story through music, words, singing… For the finale of the concert, Volodymyr Sivokhip specially created a score, who conducted the finale of the concert. The audience could hear our “Shedrik” in a new arrangement, the soundtrack to the book “Light from Darkness. Letters of Ukrainian women to the free world” – “Call me freedom”, which was created by Jerry Heil and the famous German carol “Silent Night”. Ukrainian women’s letters were masterfully woven into this musical performance. Mala Emde, a famous German actress, became the voice of Ukrainian women this evening, reading two letters: a woman from Mariupol – Kristina Parioti and a woman from Chernihiv…”. Volodymyr Sivokhyp, People’s Artist of Ukraine, conducted this important finale, which marked the dramatic end of the concert.
Theodore Kuhar noted: “The performance in Berlin, in one of the most prestigious halls in Europe and the world, is a very important moment for all of us, which made 2023 one of the most important seasons of the orchestra.”
The charity gala concert was held in support of the BF “Ukrainian artistic renaissance”
Concert partners
Embassy of Ukraine in Berlin
Ukrainian Institute in Berlin
Lviv Regional Military State Administration
Elisabeth Sandmann Publishing House
Heinrich Böhl Stiftung
Hilton Group
ValFair Concert
More Berlin
The organizers of the concert are the “OPEN MUSIC PROJECT” concert agency in cooperation with the Lviv National Philharmonic