The tour's opening concert at the Polish National Opera featured the first public performance of the suite from Maxim Kolomiiets's opera The Mothers of Kherson, which was enthusiasically welcomed by the Warsaw audience. The tour then took the orchetsra to Wrocław, Lucerne, Vilnius, and Jūrmala. The Lithuanian press wrote about 'the baton as a weapon' and quoted Wilson as saying: 'Our dream is to perform a triumphant concert tour of Ukraine, perhaps even a performance in the Kremlin, as a real symbol of victory' (LRT). During the concert in Vilnius the UFO recorded another album for Deutsche Grammophon, this time featuring Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and Kolomiiets's suite.
In during the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest the media emphasised the singificance of orchestra's presence: 'the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra performs all ecrossEurope, fighting on the cultural front,' noted RFE/RL, while the cunductor stressed that '50% [of the 70-odd members of the ensemble] still live in Ukraine, from Kyiv to Lviv to Odesa. We need to obtain a special permission for the men to leave the country, as they are all conscripted right now.'
In Amsterdam the orchestra performed Beethoven's Fifth at the Concertgebouw. Critic Peter van der Lint wrote in Trouw pisał: 'In the blue-yellow-lit hall, the orchestra, led by its founder Keri-Lynn Wilson, played fragments of a new opera by Maxim Kolomiets, which is about the Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russians. But the best medicine against our fatigue about Ukraine was the finale of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, with its glorious transition of C minor into a radiant C major.' 'Our fight for freedom is your fight too,' said Wilson afterwards.
The tour culminated in London, where The Arts Desk lauded the combination of dynamism and interepretative depth and praising Wilson and soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen for creating a night of romantic resilience. The Guardian focused on the musician's everyday life in Ukraine. '“It is very scary,” confirms UFO double bassist Nazarii Stets, who also plays with several other Kyiv ensembles. “We all have apps on our phones which give air raid warnings. Sometimes you see neighbours who sleep in the underground stations because it is safer. And then you have to go to rehearsals the next morning after zero sleep, and you are shattered. Of course, we are not on the frontline, about to kill or be killed. These people are the true heroes. But, as musicians, our instruments are our weapons.”'
The production “Hymn for Peace: The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra Performs Beethoven's 9th Symphony” recored in February 2025 at the Teatr Wielki, Warsaw is on the shortlist of the Golden Prague Festival as one of 10 nominated concert recordings. The award ceremony will take place on September 25 in Prague.
While advancing across the continent from Warsaw to London, the UFO has demonstrated that Ukraine's fight for freedom is also Europe's fight for its values. Warmly welcomed by European audiences, the orchestra proved that music is a language that canot be silenced. The UFO's next tour is planned for the summer of 2026.
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2025 CONCERT ITINERARY
14 August 2025: Warszawa, Poland
16 August 2025: Wrocław, Poland
18 August 2025: Lucerne, Switzerland
20 August 2025: Vilnius, Lithuania
22 August 2025: Jūrmala, Latvia
25 & 26 August 2025: Bucharest, Romania
27 August 2025: Amsterdam, Netherlands
29 August 2025: London, UK
