Ukrainian refugees created a choir in Brussels: they "heal" with song and promote Ukrainian culture
Ukrainian women who were forced to go abroad due to the war and temporarily live in the capital of Europe have united in a choir. What started as a way to support each other in difficult times has grown into a cultural voice of the Ukrainian community in the heart of the European Union. This is reported by UNN with reference to "Nastoyascheye vremya".
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The women's choir has already performed in the European Parliament and the European Commission, where they performed, in particular, the anthem of Europe. The team is also often invited to festivals, cultural events and official celebrations.
Yes, we performed in the European Parliament. People were crying. It was very touching - only three months after the start of the full-scale invasion
Lilia is the only professional musician in the group, all other participants are amateurs. She has a musical education and experience in conducting, so when she found herself in Brussels, she decided to unite the Ukrainian community around something familiar to every Ukrainian - a song.
"The only thing I knew how to do professionally was to sing. And Ukrainian song is something everyone knows. And everyone can join in," she explains.
For Lilia and her colleagues, the choir became not only a creative space, but also a way to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"After our first performance, people came up to me and asked: "Why aren't you smiling, even though you sing so beautifully?" And I replied: "We can't smile yet," recalls the leader. But she adds that only with time did the opportunity to smile again appear: "In the third year of the war, I felt that we could do it."
The members of the team came to Belgium from different parts of Ukraine.
"I am from Luhansk region, from the city of Svatove. I left at the very beginning of the war - our territory was immediately occupied. This is the fourth year I have not been home. And the choir is a part of my land," says Tetiana Matveeva, one of the participants.
"I am from Kharkiv. I came to Belgium less than a year ago. I heard the choir at one of the performances in January - and joined. I dreamed of singing since childhood," adds Svitlana Strelnyk, another member of the ensemble.
The choir of Ukrainian refugees in Brussels is not just a musical group. This is an example of how culture can unite, heal and give hope even in the darkest times.