Its title is “Sounds of Ukraine”. The organizers invite the German public to hear the beauty of Ukrainian romance, and to enjoy a journey through the violin repertoire from the 19th century to the present day, to get to know the music of the most famous Ukrainian composers — Lysenko, Kosenko, Barvinskyi, Skoryk, Silvestrov, and to touch the traditions of celebrating Christmas in Ukraine. The concerts will take place in Wesseling, Monheim am Rhein and Bonn in September, November and December. All events are charity concerts, the contributions will go to people who suffered from the war and lost their homes.

Art director of the Festival, Violina Petrychenko said:

“Fifteen years ago, I went to study in Germany, where I stayed, dedicating my musical activity to the Ukrainian musical heritage. After my studies in Germany, it became obvious that my true passion lies in Ukrainian music. I played many concerts, made recordings, always striving to convey more information about our culture to the listeners. During the past year, I managed to hold about 80 concerts with Ukrainian music in Germany, Italy, England, Luxembourg and Switzerland. It is great that I noticed a  sincere interest of European listeners in our music. This inspired me to expand my activities and organize a festival of Ukrainian classical music in Germany. My main goal is to demonstrate the diversity of eras, styles and moods by attracting different musicians who have a common idea, namely to give Europe the opportunity to enjoy the richness of Ukrainian music.”

During the Festival, new soloists of the Lviv National Philharmonic will also perform.Liliia Nikitchuk (mezzo-soprano) and Maksym Rymar (cello) will join. As part of “Sounds of Ukraine” there will be a collaboration with Natalia Gordieieva, who currently lives and works in Copenhagen.

According to Violina Petrychenko, she was lucky to “have such amazing colleagues. Equally important is the collaboration with the German pianist Oliver Drechsel. The festival program presents exclusively Ukrainian music, and this condition was key for me. It always amazes me how rarely Ukrainian musicians abroad are willing to perform only Ukrainian music. I am grateful that I managed to find musicians with whom we have such harmony.”

Since August 2023, Violina Petrychenko, a famous Ukrainian pianist and ambassador of Ukrainian music, has become a soloist of the Lviv Philharmonic. Her concert programs are distinguished by the depth of the idea, subtle work with emotional content of the works. Most recently, she presented the premiere of Valentyn Silvestrov’s cycle in Berlin.

She notes that the offer to become a soloist of the Philharmonic was a surprise for her, but she is inspired and convinced in her new role: “It will not be a problem to combine activities in Lviv and Cologne, because I travel a lot and have concerts in different parts of Europe. Already at the “Virtuosos” festival, it was clear that my wishes and the philosophy of the Lviv Philharmonic coincide: it is cultural diplomacy, the promotion of Ukrainian music both in Ukraine and abroad.”

On the eve of the concert, the pianist and the Philharmonic have many plans with unusual and original programs. They will be heard both in Lviv and in other cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Dnipro, the performer’s native Zaporizhzhia) and, of course, abroad. In November of this year and March 2024, a major soloist tour with the Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra is planned in the cities of Germany and Poland.