If there was no war, Ukrainians in the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv would have been enjoying the annual Kharkiv Music Fest at a bigger venue. Despite the shelling and explosions, classical music resonated in the city as musicians kicked off the Kharkiv Music Fest 2022 at the Istorychnyi Myzei metro station, now being used as a bomb shelter, on March 26.
Organisers said with the “concert between the explosions”, the musicians made a symbolic opening of the classical music festival, which is held every year during famous Ukrainian and international artists perform, and left people emotional.
Johannes Gutenberg, a Twitter user, shared a clip of the concert. “Today marks the opening day of the #Kharkiv Music Festival & the people of Ukraine’s 2nd city weren’t going to let Russian bombs stop them,” tweeted Gutenberg.
In the video, people are seen listening to music inside the metro station. The musicians are seen playing instruments on the steps and people can be heard applauding them towards the end of the video. Maria, a Kharkiv resident, is heard saying as per English subtitles, “Events like this are a ray of light that help us to trust in positivity and to be sure that everything will be okay.”
Watch the video:
Today marks the opening day of the #Kharkiv Music Festival & the people of Ukraine’s 2nd city weren’t going to let Russian bombs stop them.
Musicians put on an emotional concert in the metro which is acting as a bomb shelter 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦#UkraineRussianWar #SlavaUkraini #powerful pic.twitter.com/vrIm1JBdke
— Johannes Gutenberg (@Joha__Gutenberg) March 27, 2022
“It was an idea, which way I can be helpful for my people, for my country and my native city, Kharkiv,” cello player Denys Karachevtsev is heard saying in the video. “Because I am a citizen of Kharkiv and I really love this city and these people,” he says.
The music festival opened in #Kharkiv (under the bombs): first they played in the subway, then in a bomb shelter
Video from the opening of the festival KharkivMusicFest – which took place not in the large Philharmonic Hall, as planned, but in the Historical Museum metro station. pic.twitter.com/4I2a1Hb0ah— Oriannalyla 🇺🇦 (@Lyla_lilas) March 26, 2022
“The music festival opened in #Kharkiv (under the bombs): first they played in the subway, then in a bomb shelter. Video from the opening of the festival KharkivMusicFest – which took place not in the large Philharmonic Hall, as planned, but in the Historical Museum metro station,” another user wrote.
Kharkiv Music Fest – one of the best international classical music festivals in Ukraine was scheduled to start on March 26. No one could have imagined that instead there would be a concert in the subway. But here we are on the day 31 of the war. pic.twitter.com/1uyzHhGeId
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) March 26, 2022
Ukrainian folk songs written especially for this concert by the young Kharkiv composer and conductor Vladimir Bogatyryov were also played. The five-string players played classical masterpieces by Bach, Schubert, Dvorak and Skoryk. The musicians included Olga Pishchita, Stanislav Kucherenko, Tatiana Zhuk, Denis Karachevtsev and Sergiy Dikarev.
