SUPPORT OF UKRAINE

Latvijas Nacionālais simfoniskais orķestris / LNSO/Latvijas Nacionālais simfoniskais orķestris asi nostājas pret Krievijas ienākšanu Ukrainā un pret kara neprātu. Tumsa nedrīkst uzvarēt, mēs ticam gaismai.

Латвійський національний оркестр виступає проти наступу Росії на Україну та безумства війни. Темрява не повинна перемогти, ми віримо в світло!

The Latvian National Symphony Orchestra / LNSO/Latvijas Nacionālais simfoniskais orķestris strongly opposes Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the madness of war. The darkness must not win, the light will prevail.

Vassily Sinaisky ANNOUNCMENT

Carefully observing the events unfolding now in Ukraine I feel astonishment and great bitterness not being able to see or hear the opinions of our leading musicians. After all, musicians, like no one else, should be attuned to the mood of society and react to it.

I will give my opinion. Besides anger and indignation which I feel when I see the injustice of the present events, I feel a great compassion for the people of Ukraine. My grandfather was Ukrainian, and from my earliest childhood I heard from my mother and other relatives Ukrainian songs, words and saying. My happiest times were spent during school holidays with relatives in Kyiv and its surroundings. And even then I could sense the love of Ukrainians for their Motherland, how they endeavoured to do everything for it to flourish.

When my friends, the outstanding Ukrainian musicians, the conductor Stepan Turchak and the composer Miroslav Skorik, used to come to my Latvian orchestra, together we used to give such concerts which remained for a long time in the memory of the audience.

Therefore the present events feel like a vile invasion into a sovereign state which causes only grief and tragedy for thousands of people. Those who started all this would benefit from listening to the Ukrainian national anthem. What a pure, powerful and bright melody, which shows so well the character of this nation. Its sound will always prevail over the clanking noise of alien tanks and the crude orders screamed by army commanders. One feels like saying: stop, truth is not on your side.

Vassily Sinaisky, Chief Conductor of Janáček philharmonic Ostrava, Conductor Emeritus of LNSO/Latvijas Nacionālais simfoniskais orķestris.

On 4 March at 11:05, the concert Baltic Music in Support of Ukraine will be broadcast from the Great Guild on Latvian Radio 3 Klasika and on the television channel LTV1, and online on the portal LSM.lv. In the concert, orchestras and choirs from the Baltic States will take the stage live and in video performances made specially for this event.

The State Choir LATVIJA and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra will perform the State Anthem of Ukraine and Pēteris Vasks' prayer Dona nobis pacem (Grant Us Peace) under the baton of Andris Poga.

Colleagues from other Baltic concert halls will participate in the event through video recordings. The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling will play Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten. The Kaunas State Choir and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Gintaras Rinkēvičius, will render one movement of Bronius Kutavičius' symphony-oratorio Epitaphium temporum pereunti (Epitaph for the Passing Time). Under the baton of Sigvards Kļava, the Latvian Radio Choir, Sinfonietta Rīga, and organist Ilze Reine will give a performance of Arturs Maskats' lament Lacrimosa. Alongside works by Baltic composers, the Liepāja Symphony Orchestra will also perform Melody by the Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk, conductor Normunds Šnē.

Let us pray and continue to support Ukraine on the donation platform ziedot.lv