Christmas Wish for Ukraine raises funds for displaced people at Fremantle Town Hall
Ukrainian and WA musicians will combine to raise spirits and funds for Ukraine’s displaced people at Freo Town Hall on Sunday, November 20.
The Christmas Wish for Ukraine concert is a collaboration between Fremantle Chamber Orchestra and recently arrived refugees, according to Diana Teplyj, a West Australian with Ukrainian heritage.
“An amazing group of performers has unhesitatingly and generously come together to donate their services for a worthy cause,” she said.
“They will present an afternoon of uplifting music with a Christmassy feel that evokes the Ukrainian spirit and soul. It is a way of remembering Ukraine and showing support from afar by sending a wish for peace to the Ukrainian nation and hope for better times.
“ As Valentin Silvestrov, a famous Ukrainian composer evacuated from Kyiv to Berlin in March 2022, appropriately states: ‘When words fail, music speaks’.”
Highlights include:
Violinist Paul Wright and accordion player Myroslav Gutej —the Kashtany Duo — open with Ukrainian and Eastern European gypsy tunes.
Cellist Max Wung, 17, plays the Prelude of Bach’s 6th Solo Suite.
Fremantle Chamber Orchestra present a selection of Mozart’s best-loved, uplifting tunes, plus Bach’s Air on G string.
Ellie Malonzo, 12, plays the Prelude to Bach’s 3rd Violin Partita and Romance by Ukrainian Mykola Lysenko.
Duo Brillante — pianist Irina Buevska-Cowell and violinist Anastasiya Dudar, who both trained at music conservatories in Ukraine — play Melodia by Skoryk and Romance by Kos-Anatolsky, both touching Ukrainian tunes.
WAAPA graduates mezzo-soprano Ruth Burke and baritone Benjamin Del Borrello, with pianist Lydia Lai, present Non ti scordar di me (Do not forgetme) — a Pavarroti favourite — and O Holy Night.
The Echoes of Ukraine Singers, many of them recently arrived displaced persons, will perform two Ukrainian Christmas carols.
The concert concludes with Lysenko’s Prayer for Ukraine: “A work that encapsulates a fervent wish of the Ukrainian nation for peace,” Ms Teplyj said .
“All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the ukrainecrisisappeal.org which is a collaboration between Caritas Ukraine, Rotary Australia World Community Services, and the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine,” she said
“The focus of donations and funds raised will be on women and children.”
A Christmas Wish Fundraiser for Ukraine concert is on Sunday, November 20, 3pm-5pm, at Fremantle Town Hall.
