“INSO-Lviv” Symphony Orchestra of Lviv National Philharmonic

General information

“ІNSO-Lviv” (International Symphony Orchestra Lviv) of the Lviv National Philharmonic. The orchestra was founded in 1998.

“INSO-Lviv” (International Symphony Orchestra) is truly one of the best examples of the fact that the Ukrainian cultural product is worth of world exports and this is evidenced year by year by its collaboration with world-famous musicians and conductors. The quality of music is a determining factor that specializes it and, ultimately, gives flexibility in the choice of repertoire – from classical music to jazz, from opera to musicals and popular music. The orchestra concert programs have featured such outstanding soloists as Joshua Bell, Francois Leleux, Lisa Batiashvili, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Alexander Zemtsov, Sergey Nakariakov, Otto Sauter, Valeriy Sokolov, Vadim Neselovskyi, Simon Trpčeski, Ilya Grubert, Alan Bern, Lorin Sklamberg, Andriy Bielov, Leopold Kozlowski, Claude Delangle, Maria Prinz, Philippe Pierlot and many others. INSO-Lviv has successfully collaborated with outstanding guest conductors, including Georg Kugi, Sir Dirk Brossé, Krzysztof Penderecki, Oksana Lyniv, Raymond Janssen, Simon Camartin, Reinhard Seehafer, Fahraddin Kerimov, Nicolás Pasquet, Dalia Stasevska, Christian Schumann, Paul Mann, Yaroslav Shemet and others.

Orchestra CDs have Radio Swiss Classic awards. In June 2017, Paramax Films, a French production company, recorded a film with INSO-Lviv performance at the International Alfa Jazz Fest featuring the world-renowned Avishai Cohen Trio. The film is broadcast by Mezzo Classic-Jazz TV. In 2018 the orchestra performed on the main stage of Leopolis Jazz Fest featuring the outstanding bassist of the world fame Lars Danielsson and his Liberetto III Group., The orchestra is on the list of headliners of the 10th Jubilee Leopolis Jazz Fest in 2020 in the program «Richard Galliano & Lars Danielsson Meet “INSO-Lviv” Symphony Orchestra».
In 2017 the orchestra established a fruitful collaboration with the British recording company Toccata Classics. In autumn 2018, the “Skoryk: Paganini by Arrangement” CD saw its release featuring the 24 Caprices by Niccolò Paganini in arrangement for the big symphony orchestra by Myroslav Skoryk, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Maestro Skoryk. Almost immediately the CD was listed among others in the BBC Radio 3 “Record Review” program. There was also made a recording of the world premieres of the two pieces by the Hungarian-Jewish composer Pál Hermann.

In September 2021 the orchestra released a СВ “Bridges”, with recorded music by Ukrainian composers who were repressed by the Soviet authorities. Іt was a long and difficult job because the notes were preserved in a terrible condition, so the orchestra was faced with the challenge of digitizing the notes and only later recording these works.

First of all, it is a highly professional orchestra. His recognition is confirmed by the invitation to participate as an orchestra-in-residence at international festivals, celebrations, and competitions: “LvivMozArt” International Classical Music Festival (Ukraine), the 24th Johannes Brahms International Competition in Poertschach (Austria). Since 2017, the orchestra has set off on successful concert tours in the Netherlands (concert venues including Concertgebouw Amsterdam and De Doelen Rotterdam among others) under direction of Dutch conductor Raymond Janssen, founder and director of Cadenza European Art Productions. In 2019 “INSO-Lviv” orchestra took part in the historic production of Verdi’s “Aida” near the Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor (Egypt) under the direction of Oksana Lyniv. In 2022 the orchestra took part in a concert with Joshua Bell and Dalia Stasevska and the recording of the concert was made by MEDICI. In addition to the concert, Thomas de Hartmann’s violin concerto was recorded.

“INSO-Lviv” is not limited to the role of an academic symphony orchestra. It is, above all, an orchestra that proclaims the idea of peace. It implements a key mission in its projects – cultural diplomacy – thanks to the unifying power of music. In March 2014, “INSO-Lviv” initiated and carried out the all-Ukrainian cultural project “Shared Sky” when seven leading orchestras of Ukraine simultaneously performed Beethoven’s «Ode to Joy» at the major airports of Ukraine (Kyiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Lviv) emphasizing the unity of Ukraine and marking the Ukraine-EU Political Association Agreement signature. In 2015, “INSO-Lviv” organized a wide-scale international music event “BACH Marathon – Ready. Steady. BACH!” participated by more than 600 musicians from different countries set the record for the longest live performance of Bach music in Ukraine. Annually the orchestra fulfills music projects under the motto “Classic for Peace”, one of them took place in Kyiv on November 15, 2015, and was highly acclaimed, featuring Sir Dirk Brossé as a conductor, the world-renowned composer, principal conductor of the Star Wars in Concert World Tour. Yearly the orchestra presents concerts from the series “Symphonic Pearls of Vienna”, “Music of the Danube Region”, and “INSO-Lviv Orchestral Academy” in collaboration with an Austrian conductor Georg Kugi. In March 2022 – a woman from the orchestra took part in a charity concert for Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw with famous Ukrainian singer Tina Karol. In April 2022, women in the orchestra participated in a charity concert in Georgia, Tbilisi with the National Symphony Orchestra of Tbillisi. In 2023, the orchestra took part in a Finnish festival with Dalia Stasevska, the orchestra played Ukrainian and Finnish composers.

Active volunteer, charitable, and educational activities of the orchestra should not be overlooked. In June 2017, an all-Ukrainian tour “Music of Freedom. Vadim Neselovsky’s Jazz Improvisation” was made within the project “East and West Together”, which aimed to strengthen musical and friendly ties between East and West of Ukraine and once again prove that we, Ukrainians, are united in our pursuit of freedom and peace! For active assistance to the Ukrainian military in 2017, the orchestra, represented by the Chairman of the Board Iolanta Pryshliak, was awarded the Medal “For Volunteering” and the Order “Combat Volunteer of Ukraine”. In 2020 orchestra played more than 100 charity concerts, and founded a charity auction with the art gallery “ Home of Arts” together collecting more than 5 million UAH for the Ukrainian Army Forces.

“INSO-Lviv” is a bright palette of emotions that the musicians share generously with the audience while implementing its artistic and educational mission, as well as the one of cultural diplomacy.

 

 

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