As Russian troops moved closer to the capital, the Kyiv Classical Symphony Orchestra gave a concert in Maidan Square, the symbolic site of the 2014 revolution.
Despite air raid sirens, the musicians led by conductor and UNESCO Artist for Peace Herman Makarenko played a few symphonies, such as Beethoven's Ode to Joy, which has become the official anthem of the European Union or the Ukrainian anthem.
In Ukraine, as elsewhere, music and poetry have become an integral part of the fight to honor the memory of lost ones, to alleviate fear and to comfort citizens in their grief.
Herman Makarenko declared to journalists that this concert was a call for peace.
He also wishes to launch an initiative named "Peace Relay" and call on groups, orchestras and ensembles from different countries of the world to perform for Peace. The opening of the performance with the anthem of the host country and/or the national anthem of Ukraine will be the sign of a participation and its closing, with the Ukrainian melody "Shchedryk", will be the symbol of passing the baton to other countries. The Kyiv Classical Orchestra will soon start this initiative on the Maidan Square or in the Kyiv metro.
We want the music of peace, the music of life in our performance to reach the heart of every resident of the free world and the leaders of these countries to help them find a decision that would make the Ukrainian sky, under which we will perform, safe.