Meet the Ukrainians using music to fight for their country

22 September 2022

Ukraine’s Musical Freedom Fighters is a BBC Two documentary in which journalist Clive Myrie travels across Europe, including into the war-torn country itself, to meet a group of musicians as they rush to form a new orchestra to perform at a high-profile BBC Proms concert in London.

In the midst of war, 75 of Ukraine’s finest musicians came together to perform as an orchestra across Europe and the US this summer. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.

In the new documentary, Clive Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing - often alone - in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert. He explores how and why this band of musicians has joined forces in a warzone to take their music, and their message, to the world.

Among the many musicians that Myrie met was pianist Anna Fedorova. She told him how she was trying to balance her career as a musician with the emotions she felt as a Ukrainian.

Fedorova revealed that she and many of her compatriots felt a particular kinship with the music of Chopin.

She said: "All of us Ukrainians, I think we feel even closer to Chopin because our destinies are quite similar at the moment. He was also forced to escape from his own beloved country of Poland because of the invasion of Russia at that time, and he lived in exile in France for the rest of his life."

Myrie also noted that there seemed to be a particular intensity to her performances.

Fedorova agreed: "When it's really dramatic music, tragic music, dark music... I feel that it connects even more with me now because these emotions are the ones which I'm going through."

• Watch Clive Myrie's documentary about Ukraine’s Musical Freedom Fighters on BBC Two and iPlayer at 7:35pm on Saturday 24 September
• Watch the BBC Proms performance by the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra on BBC Four at 10pm on Sunday 25 September or stream now on iPlayer