Ukrainian children’s choir rehearses in a bomb shelter before its New York concert

The Shchedryk Children's Choir from Ukraine has been rehearsing in a bomb shelter for its concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in December.

After the recent increase in missile strikes in Kyiv the choir was forced underground where it has been rehearsing without electricity.

It is one hundred years since the North American premiere of Mykola Leontovych's Shchedryk, known today in English as Carol of the Bells, at Carnegie Hall.

To mark the anniversary, the Ukrainian Institute, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Razom for Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Contemporary Music Festival will co-present Notes from Ukraine: 100 Years of Carol of the Bells at Carnegie Hall on 4 December 2022.

Notes From Ukraine is a choral celebration of Ukrainian culture and heritage, bringing continued awareness of the current war in Ukraine and harnessing the power of music to preserve, promote, and protect Ukraine's independence and future. Proceeds from ticket sales will be specifically allocated towards the reconstruction of public services through President Volodymyr Zelensky's Initiative: United24 Rebuild Ukraine campaign.

Over 50 children from Ukrainian Children's Choir Shchedryk will travel from Kyiv to New York on 29 November (the first such event since the invasion began), and the concert also includes the Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York (as featured on SNL), The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, soprano Janai Brugger and Toronto-based Ukrainian folk singer Marichka Marczyk.

The programme features a world premiere choral work by composer Trevor Weston set to the words of Ukrainian Nobel Prize-nominated poet Serhiy Zhadan, as well as works by composers with Ukrainian connections, including Eric Whitacre, Leonard Bernstein, Valentyn Sylvestrov, George Gershwin, and others.

The event's official website is HERE.

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.