A female choir from Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv will perform at the opening concert of the Malta International Organ Festival this weekend.

The Kyiv Baroque Consort, a musical group made up of Ukrainian musicians, is the official choir of the city hall of Kyiv. It will perform in Malta under the direction of Nancy Milesis Romano.

Female members of the choir are travelling to Malta amid an ongoing invasion of their country by Russian forces. Male concert members will stay behind, as they cannot leave the country due to the ongoing conflict. Currently, men in Ukraine require special permits to leave the country.

The opening concert will feature Vivaldi’s Gloria at the Jesuits’ Church in Valletta on Saturday, November 19 at 8pm.

Other works include Albinoni’s Oboe concerto Op. 9 and sacred arias sung by Joseph Lia, the artistic director of the Malta International Organ Festival.

Milesis Romano, the spouse of the Italian Ambassador to Malta, has been leading the group for 10 years with an emphasis on Italian baroque music. 

“It was very courageous of artistic director Joseph Lia to invite the group to take part in the festival despite the war,” she says.  

“The women are currently on their way to Malta from Ukraine and my heart is in my throat until they get here. The trip is very long, and they had a lot of trouble getting tickets.”

Milesis Romano is a professional musician specialising in Baroque music. She used to live in Ukraine with her husband when he was the Italian ambassador there.

She took a trip to Ukraine some weeks ago amid the fighting to undergo rehearsals with the group. 

Currently, men in Ukraine require special permits to leave the country

Milesis Romano noted that the choir's all-female composition for its Malta concert is in keeping with the fact that Vivaldi’s repertoire was written to be performed almost entirely by women.

“Vivaldi wrote many works for mixed voices, but he had worked for 37 years as a music master in a female orphanage where babies were abandoned, sometimes for their deformities, by being placed through a hole in the conservatory wall. 

“When the boys reached adolescence, they were sent away to work, but girls were kept for musical training,” she explained.

The conductor describes how she has assured the women of the choir they will be greeted with open arms upon their arrival to Malta, adding that they are very appreciative of all the support they have received both from Malta and Italy.

The group will also be received by President George Vella on Friday morning at his residence. 

The event aims to raise further awareness about the current situation in Ukraine within the diplomatic community, the local authorities and Maltese society.

The opening concert of the Malta International Organ Festival is supported by NDSF, Arts Council Malta, the German Embassy and the Italian Embassy through the Italian Cultural Institute of Valletta. Tickets for the opening concert can be obtained here. For more information on the Malta International Organ Festival, visit the official site here.