Solidarity & Freedom by Beethoven, -tól (2024/2024), Karmester Keri-Lynn Wilson, Shipyard CRIST, Gdynia, Poland

23 July 2024 / 6 p.m. Shipyard CRIST Gdynia Ludwig van Beethoven - Ninth Symphony I Victoria Poleva - Freedom „Solidarity & Freedom” The concert in the CRIST shipyard (Gdynia) will be held under the honorary patronage of the former President of Poland, founder of Solidarity and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Lech Wałęsa and also under the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra was founded in 2022. It is made up of Ukrainian musicians, members of orchestras from Ukraine who had to flee areas attacked by Russia, or Ukrainian members of bands from other European countries. The initiative by Keri-Lynn Wilson, who herself has Ukrainian roots, was supported by the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Grand Theater National Opera in Warsaw. The concert will open with a new work by acclaimed Ukrainian composer Victoria Vita Polevá entitled “Freedom”. The piece is the latest in a series of responses to the invasion composed by Polevá, including Bucha. Program to feature also Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in a unique Ukrainian language version. The most outstanding Polish soloists, the choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic and musicians of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra together with conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson agreed to accept Tomasz Konieczny’s invitation not only to take part in the Baltic Opera Festival 2024 but also agreed to perform together as part of a special evening of Festival, a symphonic concert in the original industrial space – shipyard CRIST in Gdynia. The concert is organized by the Association Dal Segno Institute. Cast Izabela Matula – soprano Małgorzata Walewska – mezzo-soprano Piotr Buszewski – tenor Tomasz Konieczny – bass-baritone Keri-Lynn Wilson – conductor Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra and Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok