Following last year’s critically-acclaimed debut performances, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra reunites this week for a second tour of major European festivals and concert halls, in collaboration with Askonas Holt, The Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera. Under the patronage of First Lady Olena Zelenska, the 74-piece orchestra of Ukrainian refugees and members of European orchestras is led by conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson as they come together for the two-week tour. Soloist Valeriy Sokolov joins the orchestra for Stankovych Violin Concerto No.2 as part of a programme that includes Verdi’s Overture to Forza del destino, Skoryk’s Melody and Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’’. Concerts in Warsaw and Berlin will feature Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 with soloists Olga Kulchynska, Nicole Chirka, Dmytro Popov (Warsaw), Vasyl Solodkyy (Berlin) and Vladyslav Buialskyi. After performances in Warsaw and Gdansk, the orchestra will be joined by the newly-formed Ukrainian Freedom Chorus to mark Ukrainian Independence Day on 24 August with a free concert held in the gardens of Berlin’s Schönhausen Palace with thousands expected to attend. From Berlin they head to the Lucerne Festival, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Snape Maltings before finishing at the Barbican Centre in London. Watch the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra perform the fourth movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World, recorded live at Lincoln Center in 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5tsmJQ9Gjk © The Metropolitan Opera