Ukraine, the State of the Culture War, and What You Can Do
"If Ukrainian music is ever to have a sustainable place in the world repertoire, its representation must go beyond the military context, charity projects and direct dependence on political and social trends." -Anna Stavychenko, former Executive Director of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and founder of the 1991 Project.
Despite recent talks of a ceasefire in Ukraine, the war is currently raging on, with President Zelenskyy recently stating, "A ceasefire could have already happened, but Russia is doing everything to prevent it.” There is a growing sense that Russia is attempting to put off a ceasefire until it is able to achieve a more advantageous position in the region, particularly when it comes to land mass.
Meanwhile, bombs continue to drop on Ukrainian cities, including its schools and cultural landmarks. According to Anna Stavychenko, former Executive Director of the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and founder of the 1991 Project, "At least 2,109 pieces of cultural infrastructure were damaged and another 368 were destroyed, including opera houses, concert halls and musical educational institutions." It is difficult to conceive of the impact this damage has had and will continue to have on Ukrainian Arts and Culture. In the world of classical music alone, with the decreased number of halls and safe spaces to rehearse and perform, the number of concerts has reduced significantly, and even on the occasion a concert is able to be produced it is often interrupted by air raid sirens. In addition, with all forms of education being interrupted and the destruction of schools, music and arts education is no longer a luxury to be afforded nearly as much attention as during peacetime, inhibiting the next generation of Ukrainian artists and musicians from being built up. There is, of course, the destruction of art itself to consider, with fear that the bombs or fires will destroy scores and other precious works of art.
As discussed in this blog's 2023 post, Should We Perform Russian Music in 2023?, the destruction of Ukrainian cultural institutions is no accident or by-product of the war, but a specific attempt to erase any semblance of an independent Ukraine, and that goes especially for its cultural roots. In the eyes of Putin, Ukraine simply does not exist, its territory and people exist only as part of Russia. In order to reinforce that perspective, Russia must destroy as much evidence of Ukrainian independence as possible, and that mostly exists within its culture. Thus, in the eyes of many Ukrainians, this ongoing culture war is almost as if not equally important as the physical one.
There are many ways in which Ukrainian musicians are working to contradict the Russian cultural takeover of Ukraine. In spite of all the many deterrents, there exists a concerted effort to provide voice to the Ukrainian people throughout Europe and the world as a unique and culturally wealthy people. According to Alona Dmukhovska - the owner of Music Export Ukraine, which she describes as a "not-for-profit Mega-label and Ministry of Music altogether," advancing Ukrainian bands and artists:
"All musicians and artists from Ukraine are fighting at the cultural front now as well – against imperialism, against disinformation, for the opportunity to be heard for the very first time internationally and not let people forget about war crimes just around the corner. It’s vitally necessary now to be vocal and visible to survive."
There are several amazing examples of individuals and organizations fighting this culture war. For instance, in May and June of 2022, only months after performances in their hometown became impossible to continue, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra had a three-week European tour by invitation of German artist management group KD Schmid. Calling it the "Voice of Ukraine" tour, it featured Ukrainian composers alongside the traditional standards of the symphonic repertoire. Since then, in residence in Gera, Germany, and now in Monheim am Rhein, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra has continued this work largely within these smaller communities, performing standard orchestral repertoire, Ukrainian orchestral repertoire, and even family concerts such as a Christmas concert filled with traditional Ukrainian Christmas Carols right alongside German ones. They have also worked to record and perform live Ukrainian orchestral works that have gone overlooked by the rest of Europe, setting a high standard of performance for these works and providing many of them for public consumption as high-quality live recordings on their YouTube channel.
Another significant project to advance Ukrainian classical music and musicians is the 1991 Project, founded by Anna Stavychenko, which works in tandem with Columbia Global Paris Center. The 1991 Project is working to restore, preserve, and publish Ukrainian scores, making them much more widely available than ever before. The Ukrainian Score Project has jumped on this wagon, accepting requests internationally for scores from a wide array of selections and instrumentations. It also produces a chamber music series in which Ukrainian and other world-renowned performers present recitals featuring Ukrainian Composers again alongside the standard repertoire, pushing the narrative that Ukrainian music has a place in the zeitgeist of European classical music.
A third incredible resource is Ukraine Live Classic, or UL Classic, which is essentially a free music streaming app exclusively for Ukrainian classical music. Many of the performances provided include video production as well, and users can request scores from the Ukrainian Score Project through the UL Classic app. When this blogger first started browsing the UL Classic app, it became quickly apparent that there is an incredible wealth of very high-quality music that has little to no existence in the U.S. As someone who is always exploring lesser-known works, it was shocking to not recognize a single composer, and upon hearing many of them, it has been exciting to discover such a deep pool of music. The app is free but does have a Patreon for those who wish to support their work.
On top of these international efforts, there have been ongoing efforts to maintain some level of normalcy in the music scene within Ukraine. From subway concerts to acoustic sets on the front lines, these concerts serve as a reminder of what the war is being fought for and serve as a cog in the machine keeping Ukraine alive. As Dmukhovska points out,
"All of those events are taking place not because of the wish to have fun, but because of a clear humanitarian need – every single event happening now in Ukraine and abroad is not for business, but to raise donations to help those in need. Besides, it’s crucially important to keep the economy moving, keep the working places and own teams active. Not to mention such well-forgotten words as ‘mental health’, which does not exist in our reality anymore. It’s rather an important activity to stay sane."
So what can we do, in America, Europe, and the rest of the world, to aid in this culture war? As pointed out in my previous article, there needs to be at least a temporary reconsideration of programming Russian national music and curating Russian art. There are boycotts all over the world of other Russian products, but it seems that a boycott of Russian music has been less popular, but has the potential to be equally effective. Other methods of support are outlined by Stavychenko:
"Music supporters can ask institutions and orchestras to include Ukrainian music in their programming. Music lovers can attend concerts with Ukrainian music in the programme and listen to Ukrainian composers on whatever platform they use. Anyone can find and join initiatives to help Ukrainian music or musicians—any help is important. Ukraine has much to offer the world. Ukraine has a voice that deserves to be heard."
-P
For further information on the Ukrainian Culture War, see:
Music as a Weapon: The Displaced Kyiv Symphony Orchestra on Ukraine’s “Cultural Front”
After Rehearsals Interrupted by Air Raids, the National Symphony of Ukraine Embarks on UK Tour
Overview of Ukrainian live music industry after the start of Russian aggression
Ukrainian Classical Music in the Face of War
3 Years Into War, Ukrainian Musicians Ask, “Will We Ever Go Home?”