Music is the sound of freedom and on September 9 at 9 PM EST, PBS will air The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra's Kennedy Center concert, which originally took place on August 20, just days before the six-month mark of Russia’s unprovoked war against Ukraine, its people, and its cultural identity.
Assistant Secretary Satterfield joined Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein and Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova to welcome the audience, telling them that what they would hear was the sound of freedom and an expression of a unique cultural identity that no aggressor will be allowed to silence. The orchestra included 74 Ukrainian musicians – recent refugees, Ukrainian members of European orchestras, and some of the top musicians of Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and elsewhere in Ukraine. It came together with international effort, conceived by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson and Metropolitan Opera director Peter Gelb, supported by the Polish National Opera, and celebrated by audiences throughout Europe and New York City before completing their tour in Washington, DC.
The Government of Ukraine supported the project by allowing male musicians to put down weapons and take up their instruments in a remarkable demonstration of the power of art over adversity.
Assistant Secretary Satterfield reiterated the words of President Biden and Secretary Blinken noting: “The American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom.”
Original source can be found here.
