This is a story that can best be told with music. Because it is about music - about music as a source of hope in a war. About a fight to get that music out into the world now. So before you read any further, please listen to these 2 tracks whilst you read on…..

There is a children's choir in Kyiv called Shchedryk. It is probably Ukraine's most recognised children's choir, and they have won several awards around the world. When they perform, the children are dressed in white and black, the girls have braids, and while they sing, they sway back and forth to the music. The choir performed on the best stages of Canada, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Germany, Russia, Austria and, of course, Ukraine.

This year, the choir had then planned a major tour out into the world on the occasion of its 50th birthday.

But then came the war.

SAUL ZAKS IS A DANISH-ARGENTINIAN-ISRAELI CONDUCTOR who is Artistic Director of the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival in Vienna www.sclfestival.org and the Shschedryk Children’s Choir won the first prize in competition at the category Children’s Choir in 2019.

The SCL Festival is Austria’s Premier Global Youth Music Festival for Choirs, Bands and Orchestras.

This is his story told to Zetland magazine and to Choir of the Earth. He clearly remembers the first time he saw the choir perform a few years ago. “Well, now I'm getting emotional. Now I'm really touched. They are very young people, but they have a singing technique that is completely unique,” he says.

“Suddenly, when they open their mouths, the sound comes out. You do not think it comes from these children. For it is so mature a sound, so unpolished. It's a warm sound. It's from another planet,” he says. “How do you put words into sound? Fantastico is too little to say, it's almost magical.”

On 24th February, Russia's invasion put an end to the choir's plans to record a lot of music and travel the world on their big anniversary tour. Ukraine was under attack. And the children and their families were scattered. Some children fled. Others sought refuge in their homes. The parents volunteered for the war.

“We had many plans,” explains a representative from the choir. “Now we live in another dimension.”

The bombings made it far too dangerous for the children to meet and sing together. The war had shattered the choir's ability to make music.

The moment Saul Zaks heard about the invasion, he decided to do something. Through a conductor contact in Poland, he quickly organized a bus with 59 seats. It could drive to Ukraine and bring them to Denmark and safety.

“At the border we would wait with blankets, food and everything they need. And then that bus drives quietly to Denmark.” 

Saul Zaks started planning accommodation at a school in Aarhus, where he lives.

But then he heard from Tanya, who represents the Shchedryk choir internationally. She wrote that the children were already scattered all over Kyiv. They could not practice. Their choir house was inaccessible due to the bombings. She could not see that it could be done. It was completely impossible to get the kids or their families out.

The Music

But then they had another idea: what if - now that they could not sing together or go out into the world together or just escape together - they could send some music out into the world?

The choir had managed to record two songs in St. Andreas Church in Kyiv before it became impossible due to the war - two lullabies. Tanya from the children's choir asked Saul Zaks if he could get the songs out into the world.

He called Mark Strachan, Founder of Choir of the Earth, which has over 7,000 members across the globe. Could he help spread this music? Mark immediately listened to the music and was moved by the beautiful melodies and the superb singing.

Oh yes, he would help to spread this wonderful music across the world. Mark further suggested to Saul that he record a video of his experiences so this could be played alongside the music. Here is this video:

"I do not understand Ukrainian, but when you listen to their song, it's as if it all makes sense at the highest level," says Saul Zaks. “That's why I sent the song to Mark. I have worked with Choir of the EARTH and I know they can work miracles. What the music here does to me is quite unique. ”

The notes to the lullabies were also lost after the Russian attack. But Marianna Sablina, the choir's conductor, has written them again by hand during the war. " She sent me a handwritten score from a bunker in Kyiv," says Saul Zaks.

IN THESE TRAGIC SITUATIONS, MUSIC HAS BEEN INVENTED as a means of showing why we are here and what it means to be here on earth. And when it comes from a child, when it comes from a fugitive, that meaning becomes even deeper.

Here is the Shchedryk Choir’s website: https://shchedryk.com.ua/index-en

Choir of the Earth thanks you in advance for passing this webpage to as many people as possible so that the music never ends………….

Just copy and paste this: https://choiroftheearth.com/shchedryk-childrens-choir-kyiv

Thank you