The 17th-century Lutherse Kerk in Amsterdam will host a benefit concert on 24 February - with plenty of Ukrainian musicians set to feature
Amsterdam is set to host a solidarity and benefit concert exactly one year on from the start of the Ukraine-Russia war.
Organised by the University of Amsterdam, the Davidsbündler Music Academy and the University of New Europe (with the support of TRIDA Foundation, Alumni Association AUV and the Ukrainian Embassy of the Netherlands), the event will feature performances from some of Ukraine's top musicians as well as other internationally renowned performers.
Star musicians, including the Ukrainian singer Maryana Golovchenko, percussionist Konstantyn Napolov, violinist Rosanne Philippens and the Mischa Maisky Trio, will play works by Ukrainian composers in a varied programme that shows the richness of Ukraine's musical traditions.
Percussionist Konstantyn Napolov. Photo by Eduardus Lee. Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Concert for Peace benefit on March 6, 2022
Pianists set to feature include Anna Nebaba, Lil Maisky, Tetiana Abaieva and Borys Fedorov.
The evening will be opened by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, and presented by Jet Berkhout (NPO Klassiek). The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Kingdom of the Netherlands Maksym Kononenko and Foreign Affairs Minister Wopke Hoekstra will also speak.
75% of the proceeds of the ticket revenue & donations will be transferred to the Medical and Humanitarian Aid programme of Ukraine’s official fundraising initiative, UNITED24, to purchase food, medication, and essential needs that will be sent to Ukraine. The remaining 25% will be used to grant scholarships to talented Ukrainian children who have had to flee their country together with their mothers and are now continuing their music education at the Davidsbündler Music Academy in The Hague.
450 people will attend live, and the event will also be available for audiences around the world who can watch and listen through a livestream. More info on the livestream can be found here.
Tetiana Abaieva teaching Pavlo Slipko (12 years old, from Kyiv) at the Davidsbündler Music Academy in The Hague
Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova, who is also the co-founder of the Davidsbündler Music Academy in The Hague, comments, "Dividing the proceeds between UNITED24 and the Stichting Davidsbündler Foundation will help Ukrainian people both in Ukraine and in the Netherlands, without any detours and in a completely transparent way.
"I am very grateful that the University of New Europe, TRIDA Foundation AUV, and the University of Amsterdam have decided to donate part of the proceeds of this benefit concert to the Stichting Davidsbündler Foundation, which needs a lot more funds to ensure scholarships for more young and extremely talented Ukrainian musicians. And sadly, also for a longer period of time than any of us expected almost exactly one year ago.
"Apart from money, there are many other ways people can help them. We have great volunteers working with us! But we are having an increasingly hard time finding host families in or around The Hague for some of our students and their mothers. Anyone who offers to be considered for homestays in the area, please get in touch.”
Tickets and donations information can be found here.