The Munich Philharmonic Dedicates Concert to Ukraine

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and members of the Munich Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Bavarian State Orchestra, will perform in Munich’s Isarphilharmonie concert hall on March 8, 2022. 

The concert program will include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor, op. 67, and his Violin Concerto in D major, op. 61, with Mutter as soloist. The concert will be conducted by Lahav Shani and hosted by Maximilian Maier.

Tickets to the event are available here and the performance will also be broadcast live on the radio on BR-KLASSIK. It will be available to watch later on March 12 through a video stream on BR-KLASSIK and on March 13 via BR Fernsehen broadcasting.

“Looking at the images from the Ukraine, it tears my heart apart,” Mutter wrote on Facebook. “Families that are being torn apart – it's the children right now who are exposed to unbelievable suffering! This cruel war will traumatize hundreds of thousands of them. We need to do something to alleviate the suffering.”

Every participating artist will be waiving their fees, and all the concert proceeds will go to the Save the Children organization. This initiative has been operating in Ukraine since 2014, providing essential humanitarian assistance to children and their families. To donate to them, click here.

Amsterdam's Concertgebouw Orchestra is also presenting a benefit concert for the victims of the war in Ukraine on March 6. Artists such as Ukrainian pianist Anna Fedorova, Russian cellist Maya Fridman, violinist Liza Ferschtman, pianist Nino Gvetadze, and cellist Quirine Viersen, will perform in the Main Hall.

The entire proceeds of the concert will benefit the collaborating aid organizations under Giro 555 and on the evening itself, visitors can make extra donations.

The New York Philharmonic has similarly dedicated concerts to Ukraine — their program this week pays “tribute to the fortitude of the human spirit in the face of the fiercest adversity,” with Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, which was composed during World War I, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, which has become a symbol of human struggle.

“[We] join our voice with those heard in crowds gathered across the world to support the Ukrainians in their defiance of such stark, violent aggression, and hopes for the time when their sacrifices will be rewarded with enduring independence and peace,” the orchestra wrote on their website.