On Sunday, 1 September 2019 The Refugee Orchestra Project (ROP) makes its UK debut under the direction of the acclaimed American-Russian conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya at LSO St Luke’s in London.
Described by the Boston Globe as “spreading a message of inclusion”, ROP provides a platform for instrumentalists and singers to celebrate the immense contributions that refugees make to society, and has performed at the United Nations and in major cities including New York, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
“It’s a tremendous honour to lead ROP in a concert that amplifies our vision,” said Yankovskaya. “Refugees continue to bring incredible cultural wealth everywhere they go. This opportunity presents works written by well-known composers who were refugees themselves, and the results will resonate beyond the music itself with proceeds from the event going to help Refugee Action.”
Belize-born British composer Errollyn Wallen MBE will perform her ‘Concerto Grosso’ with the orchestra. The orchestra will also play ‘Freedom’ by Afghan composer Milad Yousufi, ‘Metamorphosis’ by Iranian composer Gity Razaz, Bartók’s‘Romanian Folk Dances’ and a medley by renowned composer, lyricist and American cultural iconIrving Berlin. Additionally, the orchestra will perform the ‘The Wind’ from Wuthering Heights by Tony and Grammy award-winning composer of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon, Claude-Michel Schönberg, himself the son of Hungarian-Jewish refugees.
Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg added, “Too often we see refugees as people to fear. We hope this Refugee Orchestra concert will remind us all that our shared humanity transcends our differences.”
