Berlin Phil dedicates concerts to Ukraine victims

Message received:

Statement by the Berliner Philharmoniker and their chief conductor Kirill Petrenko on
the Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, Gustavo Dudamel and the soloists Nadine Sierra and
Okka von der Damerau will dedicate their concerts this week with Gustav Mahler’s Second Symphony to those
affected by the Russian attacks on Ukraine.
“We are deeply shocked by the attacks from the Russian side, which have triggered a war on European soil and
are targeted directly against a life in freedom and democracy. Our solidarity is with all the people of Ukraine and
the victims of this violent conflict.”
(Andrea Zietzschmann, Knut Weber and Stanley Dodds for the Board of the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation)
“Putin’s insidious attack on Ukraine, which violates international law, is a knife in the back of the entire peaceful
world. It is also an attack on the arts, which, as we know, unite across all borders. I am in complete solidarity
with all my Ukrainian colleagues and can only hope that all artists will stand together for freedom, sovereignty
and against aggression.”
(Kirill Petrenko, chief conductor of the Berliner Philharmoniker)