On May 7, the Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra arrived in the Swedish capital for the Ukrainian Spring Festival.

The project titled “Ukrainian Muses Are Not Silent” is dedicated to two Ukrainian composers, Hanna Havrylets and Bohdana Froliak. The orchestra was accompanied by excellent soloists – pianist Jozsef Ormeny and violist Ustym Zhuk. And together with the string group of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic, the first concert of our visit took place in the capital of Sweden, the capital that is preparing to celebrate Europe Day.

Volodymyr Syvokhip, Director General of the Philharmonic and conductor of the evening, said: “It is very important for us that we are here not only as honored guests, representatives of Ukraine, but also that today and the day after tomorrow we are playing Ukrainian music. This is how our cultural mission, our cultural front works, when we show contemporary Ukrainian composers. We also present the works of classical composers, including Myroslav Skoryk, we play Borys Liatoshynskyi’s Third Symphony, and finally, we play the music of Ukrainian romantic composer Mykola Lysenko.”

“This event is touching because it is dedicated to the music of my sister Hanna Havrylets, who unfortunately passed away a year ago, and to my music, so it is dedicated to two sisters,” said composer Bohdana Froliak. “I am very pleased that the concert will take place here in Stockholm at such a wonderful festival that presents Ukrainian culture to the world, and I am very pleased that it will be performed by our musicians.”

On May 9, at the Royal Concert Hall, the Symphony Orchestra and the conductor Yaroslav Shemet will perform a large program to close the Ukrainian Spring Festival. This program is dedicated to Europe Day, which Europe celebrates on May 9, and Sweden, as the presiding country in the Council of Europe, is the country that leads this celebration.