The Ukrainian Institute in Sweden organizes a large European festival “Ukrainian Spring”. It will be held from April 14 to May 9, 2023, in Stockholm and strives to demonstrate the unity of Europeans with Ukraine and present its art. The Lviv National Philharmonic is a participant in the Festival.

The European Festival is organized by several European cultural institutions through the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) network in cooperation with the European Commission. “The European Festival is planned to be a recurring event across Europe with new themes. This year’s theme during Sweden’s EU presidency is Europe’s united front in support of Ukraine.

As the organizers note, “The stated goal of Russia’s aggression is the destruction of the Ukrainian nation, its identity and culture (…) Reports of abducted children, torture and murder of civilians, and the bombing of hospitals, schools and infrastructure, together with images of destroyed Ukrainian cities, evoke many feelings of despair and powerlessness. One way to show our support for Ukraine, which is probably so important, is to watch and listen. We are getting to know the Ukrainian identity and culture, protecting which people are now dying by the thousands.”

During the “European Festival: Ukrainian Spring” in Stockholm from 14/4 – 9/5 there will be plenty of opportunities to discover the rich Ukrainian culture through a kaleidoscope of theater, film, concerts, art exhibitions, literature and lectures. Prominent Ukrainian and European cultural practitioners perform on stages such as Konserthuset, Moderna muséet, Artipelag and Kulturhuset.

The festival will end on Europe Day, May 9, with the Grand Finale. For the first time, the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra will visit Sweden under the direction of rising star Yaroslav Shemet. They will offer an exclusive program of Ukrainian music that has never been heard in Sweden. The exhibition “Unbreakable” with current works of contemporary Ukrainian artists will be exhibited in the lobby of the hall.

Ticket revenues from all concerts go to support Ukraine.

May 7. Concert “Muses… are not silent”

The concert presents music by sisters Bohdana Frolyak and Hanna Havrylets, today’s two most prominent contemporary female composers in Ukraine. Hanna died on the 4th day after the start of the large-scale invasion (read an excerpt from sister Bohdana’s memorial text about her further down this page). Music by Hanna, performed by the string section of the Lviv National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Volodymyr Syvohip, who is visiting us now, is used in our front page teaser.

József Örmény, known for his interpretations of contemporary music, performs Bohdana’s dedication to his teacher – the famous composer Myroslav Skoryk and Skoryk’s “Prayer” for piano and strings. The St. Jacob’s Chamber Choir sings music by both Hanna and Bohdana.

May 9th. Grand concert at the end of the Festival

On Europe Day, the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic named after Myroslav Skoryk under the baton of Yaroslav Shemet will perform music by Mykola Lysenko (Overture to the opera “Taras Bulba”), Myroslav Skoryk (“Hutsul Triptych”) and Borys Lшatoshynskyi (Symphony No. 3). The concert will be held under the symbolic name “Unbreakable”.

It should be noted that the director of the Ukrainian Institute in Sweden and its founder is Nataliia Pasichnyk, a Ukrainian-Swedish pianist. Her first professional steps were at the secondary specialized music boarding school named after Solomija Krushelnytska in Lviv, later she continued her studies at the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Academy of Music, the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, and the Swedish Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Today Nataliia Pasichnyk actively performs in Europe, the USA and Japan, performing in famous concert halls around the world.