Kyiv, August 4, 2015. Organizers lifted the veil on the celebration of the 24th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day for the first time at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. “The main event of the celebration is currently being considered by the Cabinet of Ministers. The only definite thing for now is the final accord – a concert on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) by the internationally renowned classical music group, ‘I, Culture Orchestra’,” said Serhiy Proskurnia, main stage director of the celebration. According to him, Ukraine’s Independence Day celebration will be broadcast for the first time by over 150 TV channels across the world. “The project has become real thanks to cooperation between Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. It is our chance to demonstrate our love of freedom, national freedom and independence to the entire world,” added Serhiy Proskurnia.
“I, Culture Orchestra” is a project by young musicians from seven Eastern Partnership countries. “Each musician is exceptional. They allow each person in the audience to feel the culture of their native land by uniting the music into one symphony,” said conductor of the “I, Culture Orchestra” Kyrylo Karabyts. “I hope that after our concert, Ukrainians will be able to look at classical music in a different way. This style of music has lately become part of our everyday lives across the globe,” noted the conductor. The symphonic orchestra will perform in two formats on Independence Day, the organizers added. At the behest of the President of Ukraine, the first concert will take place in the National Opera House in Kyiv, and will then continue on Maidan . The programs of the two concerts will be different. “The final point of the celebration will be Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony performed by the “I, Culture Orchestra” on Maidan ,” noted Karabyts.
The idea to perform classical music on Maidan did not easily come about, the organizers shared. “In fact, I am the one advocating against holding events for entertainment on Maidan. But the format of symphonic concerts – serious classical music – is just the appropriate format to speak about the memory of all of those who have fallen over the course of the Revolution of Dignity last year,” noted the celebration’s stage director. It was in this format as well that commemoration events marking the Revolution of Dignity, Memory and Reconciliation Day, the celebration of the 8th of May and the anniversary of the 9th of May took place last year in Kyiv.
“Music needs to be the window between the West and the East. The program is thus to include musical pieces from various countries,” emphasized Eva Bogush-Moore, project manager at the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. However, the concert is just a small piece of the celebration, the organizers reassured. “A lot of surprises and presents await Ukrainians, we shall keep them secret until the last moment,” added Proskurnia.
