For Ukraine: A Concert of Remembrance and Hope to be presented by the Metropolitan Opera on the one-year anniversary of the invasion Friday, February 24, at 7PM ET

Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin to lead the Met Orchestra and Chorus and soloists in a program of Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

Performance presented in association with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations

Soloists in the Requiem will be Golda Schultz, Emily D’Angelo, Dmytro Popov, and Vladyslav Buialskyi

All tickets priced at $50 on sale noon, Wednesday, February 1; ticket buyers encouraged to make donations to Ukraine

           New York, NY (January 20, 2023)—The Metropolitan Opera, in association with Lincoln Center and the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations, today announced a concert to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of its neighbor. The company’s Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer Music Director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, will lead the Met Orchestra and Chorus in a program of Mozart’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

            In announcing the special concert, which will be broadcast on the radio, Peter Gelb, the Met’s Maria Manetti Shrem General Manager, said, “Mozart’s Requiem is to remember the innocent victims of the war, and Beethoven’s Fifth is in anticipation of the victory to come.”  Mr. Gelb noted that during World War II, the symphony’s celebrated opening chords became a symbol of victory for the Allied cause, especially when frequently repeated by the BBC during broadcasts. And Beethoven himself, he noted, was a champion of liberty and resistance to oppression.

            Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin said, “I am proud to lead the great Met Orchestra and Chorus as we continue to use music, an instrument of peace and healing, to show support for the people of Ukraine as they continue their quest for peace and an end to this war.”  Maestro Nézet-Séguin also conducted a concert on behalf of Ukraine at the Met last March, shortly after the invasion.

            Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya, said, “This is a concert in celebration of Ukrainian resilience and hope. The Metropolitan Opera was among the first to show solidarity with Ukraine, its people, culture, and artists, and it has continued to do so throughout the past year of this tragic invasion. We’re proud to work with the Met to promote a just peace.” He added, “All wars come to an end, but we will always remember who was with us from the first, most difficult, moments.”

            The President and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Henry Timms said, “We are honored to stand alongside our friends at the Metropolitan Opera to commemorate this somber anniversary and show solidarity with Ukraine. From this summer’s performances with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra outdoors at Lincoln Center, to the Met's Concert for Ukraine last Spring, the constituents at Lincoln Center have all been proud to play a part in continuing to uplift the people and culture of Ukraine.”

            In the Requiem, the soloists will be soprano Golda Schultz, who this season at the Met sang the role of Adina in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore; mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo; tenor Dmytro Popov, who sings Alfredo in the run of Verdi’s La Traviata beginning March 4; and bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi, a member of the company’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Both Popov and Buialskyi are Ukrainian.

The concert will open with the Ukrainian National Anthem and close with “Prayer for Ukraine,” by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov.

The performance will coincide with commemorative events at the United Nations, and the audience is expected to include members of the international diplomatic community.

            The Metropolitan Opera has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its struggle for survival. It produced one of the first concerts for the nation’s benefit shortly after the Russian invasion and helped organize the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, composed of musicians inside and outside the country, which toured Europe and the United States last summer.

            The February 24 concert is presented with the additional support of Ann Ziff, Chairman of the Met board; Dr. Frayda B. Lindemann, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Tod Johnson, Vice President and Chair of the Executive Committee.

Program

Ukrainian National Anthem

By Mykhailo Verbytsky

Requiem, K. 626

By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Soloists: Golda Schultz, Emily D’Angelo, Dmytro Popov, and Vladyslav Buialskyi

Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op.67

By Ludwig van Beethoven

“Prayer for Ukraine”

By Valentin Silvestrov

Tickets

All tickets are $50. Tickets will go on sale at noon on Wednesday, February 1, at metopera.org. Ticket buyers are encouraged to make donations in support of relief efforts in Ukraine. To donate, please visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine website, which includes a variety of ways in which you can help.