This weekend, Askonas Holt is honoured to present the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra at the BBC Proms in their first appearance in the UK. Sunday’s performance follows an inaugural concert in Warsaw on Thursday and forms part of their tour of Europe and the US.

The Orchestra’s members, led by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Kerri-Lynn Wilson, include recently refugeed Ukrainian musicians, Ukrainian members of European orchestras, and a number of top musicians of Kviv, Liviv, Kharkiv, Odesa, and elsewhere in Ukraine. The Ukraine Ministry of Culture has granted a special exemption to military-age, male members of orchestras inside the country to allow them to participate, and the UK government has waived visa fees for the performers.

Sunday’s programme includes Valentin Sylvestrov’s Symphony No.7 alongside Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 with soloist Anna Federova, Brahms Symphony No.4 and Beethoven Fidelio: ‘Abscheulicher!… Komm Hoffnung’ with soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska. Later performances on the tour will also feature Dvořák’s New World Symphony and ‘O patria mia!’ from Aida.

After the Proms, the Orchestra heads to Munich, Orange and Berlin, then returns to the UK for the Edinburgh Festival, a performance that holds special significance due to the fact that the city of Edinburgh is twinned with Kyiv. The concert will raise funds for the Scottish Refugee Council, as they continue to take a leading role in welcoming displaced Ukrainians to Scotland and providing vital assistance as they settle in.

From Edinburgh, the musicians will make one more stop in the UK at Snape Maltings before returning to mainland Europe for concerts at the Concertgebouw and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, followed closely by an appearance at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

18 August sees the first of two performances at Lincoln Center in New York, after which the Orchestra will complete their tour with an evening at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C.

The BBC Proms performance will be broadcast live on BBC FOUR at 11:00am GMT and will be available on iPlayer for 12 months.