On 28 June, as part of a large-scale project of the Lviv National Philharmonic entitled “Ukraine. Muses Are Not Silent”, the first Ukrainian event in the series of anti-crisis international cooperation will take place. The XX Lviv Early Music Festival, the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy, and the Szczecin International Ancient Music Festival (Poland) will present a concert of ancient Ukrainian and European music. The Lysenko Baroque Chapel Orchestra under the artistic direction of Anna Ivaniushenko will perform Baroque gems that the orchestra studied with German and Polish experts in this field.

Serhii Havryliuk, a young baroque violinist, noted in the online newspaper Zbruch that the programme of the 28 June concert is special because it “will combine the cultural space of the countries participating in the project. The audience will be able to hear French lush sophistication, Polish baroque style highlights, and the lightning virtuosity of Ukrainian early music.”

Every time I go on stage, I remember that this is an extremely special event. The day that has been given to me today is of great value, and I do my best to transfer all my energy into the music so that the listener can read their feelings in it and be able to relive this moment in their lives. I appreciate my colleagues, with whom I can build extremely emotional musical dialogues on stage, and I appreciate the audience, which supports, inspires and resonates with the music with a loving eye.

I play early music because I feel very special freedom from it. This freedom is much more pronounced than in classical or romantic music, where many factors are already determined by the composer himself. Ancient music is constructed in such a way that the addition of decorations and improvisations is “intended”, without them it loses its special beauty and charm. For me, it is a sincere and intimate freedom of expression in every part of every piece, in every sound.

The very idea of trying to reconstruct the performers’ instrumentation, articulation, trying to immerse me and immerse the listener in the composer’s era by all means (gut strings, historical instruments, research into dance culture) inspired me so much that I continue to move in this direction. On my way to this day, I have met many bright musicians, each of whom brought a new perspective and encouraged me to research historical sources and, at the same time, to be creative.

International cooperation such as this project gives us a bright belief that Ukraine’s cultural, and therefore historical, future is possible! The practice of historical performance is a well-known trend around the world, but it still needs to be promoted in Ukraine. The support and encouragement of Ukrainian musicians by our partners clearly indicates that the world is ready to hear us, accepts and recognises our cultural wealth. It is also very important that many examples of ancient music have been created in Ukraine, which are on a par with the masterpieces of the world classics in terms of quality. I am therefore grateful to our partners for their support, faith and assistance in promoting Ukraine to the top of the international music scene!

Interview by Dzvenyslava Safian