Maestro Wilson returns to the Staatsoper Berlin to conduct Puccini's masterpiece Madama Butterfly from April 22nd - 30th, 2026. This is the conductor's second series of performances at the famed opera house, having made her debut last season conducting another opera by Puccini: Turandot. In this video, Maestro speaks about her debut, and the joy she finds in working with the Staatsoper's orchestra and chorus.

Madama Butterfly is a work that Maestro has returned to multiple times in her career, including recently at the Canadian Opera Company. This marks the second time that she conducts Puccini this season, having lead La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera earlier this season.

Performances take place on April 22, 24, 26, 30, 2026. Tickets and additional information can be found here.

The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra to reconvene for its fifth summer tour

Program to feature Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony in an affirmation of the defiance and invincibility of the human spirit

Lise Davidsen—the most celebrated soprano of her generation—will join the orchestra for a concert at David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City

The tour spans six countries across Europe and the United States, with return visits to New York’s Lincoln Center, London’s St Paul’s Cathedral, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, and the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw

The 2026 tour follows Deutsche Grammophon’s release on February 24, 2026—the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine—of the orchestra’s live recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Maxim Kolomiiets’s Suite from The Mothers of Kherson

The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra is proud to be again under the patronage of Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, continuing its vital role as a cultural ambassador for Ukraine’s artistic resilience

POLOVYI AND POLOVA

On April 9, a special concert dedicated to the revival of the music of the now almost forgotten Ukrainian composer Valerii Polovyi will take place at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine.

The event is part of the large-scale project “Liberated Music,” aimed at decolonizing the Ukrainian musical space and restoring names that had long been pushed out of historical memory.

Valerii Polovyi’s name has long disappeared from concert programs, and his works remained silent pages of Ukrainian history. On this evening, the composer’s music will once again be heard from the stage, returning to audiences the name of an artist who, having endured the harsh Stalinist repressions, remained true to his creative calling.

The concert is presented with the support of Dom Master Klass.

The Kyiv Camerata will perform under the baton of Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, featuring leading soloists — violinists Bohdana Pivnenko and Kyrylo Bondar, as well as the Shchedryk Children’s Choir (artistic director Marianna Sablina).

The program brings together the work of two generations of Ukrainian artists. It will feature compositions not only by Valerii Polovyi, but also by his daughter — the outstanding contemporary composer Victoria Polova, whose musical imagery continues tradition while opening a new Ukrainian aesthetic.

Valerii Polovyi (1927–1986) was born in Odesa into an artistic family. His father, Petro Mohyla (stage name Petro Polovyi), was a singer with the Hryhorii Veryovka Ukrainian National Choir; his mother, Mariia Mohyla, was an actress and director; his brother, Hennadii Polovyi, became a well-known graphic artist; and his daughter Victoria became a prominent contemporary composer.

Polovyi’s life path was difficult. In 1950, he graduated from the Kyiv Conservatory, where he studied under Borys Liatoshynsky. This mentorship shaped the composer’s openness to new artistic ideas and experimentation.

In his music, Polovyi continued the traditions of the Ukrainian compositional school while exploring the synthesis of the arts. In particular, he studied the interaction between color and music, effectively creating “color music,” a subject on which he also wrote a book.

Immediately after graduating from the conservatory, the composer was arrested on fabricated charges of anti-Soviet activity. From 1950 to 1954, he and his brother were exiled to the copper mines of Dzhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. Even there, the artist continued to compose, sketching future works with charcoal on rough cement paper. After his rehabilitation, he worked as a teacher in music schools, an editor at music publishing houses, and a consultant for the Union of Composers of Ukraine.

Valerii Polovyi’s oeuvre spans many genres. The concert will feature his String Quartet No. 2 and Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra.

Both works have a unique history of creation: their ideas originated during his exile. The violin concerto was completed only in 1985–1986, though its first sketches appeared in the camp. String Quartet No. 2 was written entirely there.

“The Second Quartet was written by my father in a concentration camp around 1953–1954, with a second version appearing in 1973. For writing, he used cement sacks, smoothing them out and composing at night. He worked in a copper mine and tried to reflect this in the music. The theme of the second movement is a memory of love. The first, though partial, performance took place in the camp under the direction of Heorhii Kozakov,” recalls the composer’s daughter.

A separate emotional dimension of the program will be formed by the works of Victoria Polova. Her Missa brevis for children’s choir and chamber orchestra was written in 1986 — the year of her father’s death — and dedicated to his memory. In it, the composer combines the sacred tradition of the Latin Mass with a contemporary musical language. The work is perceived as a musical prayer-requiem, where personal memory and spiritual concentration become a shared experience of grief and inner purification.

Another work by Victoria Polova — “Blessing of Sadness” for two violins and strings — was created during wartime. This performance gains particular symbolism, as it unites the personal and the universal — a reflection on the past and an experience of present reality.

In a difficult time for the country, the question of national memory becomes especially acute. The return of Polovyi’s music testifies to the strength of Ukrainian culture — its ability to survive, to be reborn, and to sound again.

This concert will become an act of justice and a meaningful addition to the narrative of Ukrainian music history.

On March 5 and 8, 2026, Keri-Lynn Wilson conducts the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine in two performances in France: at the Auditorium de Bordeaux (March 5) and at the Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers (March 8). She is joined by Ukrainian soprano Olga Syniakova.

The programme features Dnipro by Yevhen Stankovych, Songs and Dances of Death by Modest Mussorgsky, and Symphony No. 8, Op. 65 by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Tickets and additional information for the March 5 performance in Bordeaux can be found here.

Tickets and additional information for the March 8 performance in Poitiers can be found here.

CONCERT IN STRASBOURG MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF RUSSIA’S FULL-SCALE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE

On 24 February 2026, Strasbourg in Palais des Fetes de Strasbourg “Kyiv Camerata” will present a special concert "Lumiere sur l'Ombre" dedicated to the anniversary of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

The event is part of Ukraine’s cultural programme at the Council of Europe and represents an important act of cultural diplomacy. It aims to honour the memory of the victims of the war, to affirm the resilience of the Ukrainian people, and to highlight the role of culture as a language of truth, remembrance, and resistance.

The concert programme features works by prominent Ukrainian composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, including Zoltan Almashi, Oleksandr Kozarenko, Volodymyr Zubytsky, Yevhen Stankovych, Hanna Havrylets, Oleksandr Rodin, and Borys Lyatoshynsky.

The performance will be presented by the “Kyiv Camerata” under the baton of internationally renowned conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, with leading Ukrainian soloists Bohdana Pivnenko and Dmytro Tavanets.

The programme offers a profound artistic reflection on war, loss, and hope, while affirming the enduring strength and vitality of Ukrainian culture within the European context.

Held on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, the concert stands as a gesture of solidarity from the European community with Ukraine and a reminder of shared values — freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human dignity.

Through the universal language of music, Ukraine continues its dialogue with Europe, reaffirming its place within a shared European cultural and values-based space.

Deutsche Grammophon (DG) will release the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra (UFO) and conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson’s emotionally charged performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 on February 24, 2026, to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The recording, captured live in Vilnius, Lithuania, during the UFO’s 2025 Resilience Tour, is dedicated to the Ukrainian people and their struggle. It follows the success of the orchestra’s unique Ukrainian-language version of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, which DG released in 2024. Beethoven’s Fifth is accompanied by the premiere of a powerful new work by Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets, Suite from The Mothers of Kherson. This suite is a moving tribute to the Ukrainian women who made a 3,000-mile journey behind enemy lines to rescue their children forcibly detained by Russian authorities. The suite has been adapted from a new full-scale opera by Kolomiiets and librettist George Brant, which will have its world premiere at the Teatr Wielki–Polish National Opera in Warsaw in October 2026, before its Metropolitan Opera premiere in New York in the 2027–28 season.

Pre-save the album here: https://dgt.link/Wilson-UFO-Beethoven

Maestro Wilson returns to the Opéra national de Paris to conduct multiple performances of Bizet’s Carmen from February 7 through March 19, 2026.

Stéphanie d'Oustrac sings Carmen with Russell Thomas as Don José from February 7 to March 3, and Victoria Karkacheva sings Carmen with Jean‑François Borras as Don José from March 7 to 19. Amina Edris appears as Micaëla, and Erwin Schrott performs as Escamillo.

Performances take place on February 7, 10, 13, 19, 22, 25, 28 and March 3, 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19, 2026.Tickets and additional information can be found here.

MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF UKRAINE 

On December 22, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine held the Honorary Ambassador of Ukraine 2025 award ceremony, honouring individuals and teams who strengthened Ukraine’s position worldwide.

Congratulations to the 2025 awardees! They are:

Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra – Honorary Ambassador in the field of Cultural Diplomacy

Oleksandr Usyk – Honorary Ambassador in the field of Sports Diplomacy

Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen – Honorary Ambassador in the field of Expert Diplomacy

Felicity Spector – Honorary Ambassador in the field of Culinary Diplomacy

MHP – Honorary Ambassador in the field of Economic Diplomacy

The team of the Faculty of Law, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy – Honorary Ambassadors in the field of Scientific and Educational Diplomacy

Caolan Robertson – Honorary Ambassador in the field of Digital Diplomacy

Vyshyvanka Day – winner in the field of Cultural Heritage

Yurii Shevelov – winner in the “Cause of Life” category (posthumously)

The ceremony took place on Diplomatic Service Day and was attended by First Lady Olena Zelenska, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, diplomats, artists, public leaders, and media representatives.

Andrii Sybiha emphasised that Ukrainian diplomacy has united the world around Ukraine and that cultural diplomacy is a key part of this process. He noted that Ukrainian culture is an element of national security.

The event was held with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Ukraine.

After her acclaimed run leading La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Ms. Wilson returns to Ukraine to perform concerts in Lviv and Kyiv in solidarity with the brave artists and citizens of the embattled country. This will be Ms. Wilson’s eighth visit to perform in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. 

On November 27th, Ms. Wilson makes her debut with the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra at the Lviv Philharmonic Hall, performing Skoryk’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with soloist Bohdana Pivnenko and the Lviv premiere of Yevhen  Stankovych’s Requiem , a new work by the esteemed 83-year-old composer that was written in response to the invasion. 

Tickets and additional information can be found here. 

Ms. Wilson then reunites with the Kyiv Camerata for a concert in Kyiv, as she continues her duties as the Kyiv Camerata Music Director. The performance in Kyiv at the National Philharmonic Hall on December 2nd is a replacement concert for the performance earlier this fall that was cancelled due to Russian air attacks. The all-Ukrainian program includes works by V. Zagortsev, O. Gonobolin and B. Frolyak, and includes the world premiere of Victoria Poleva’s  "Sofia" for choir and orchestra, and the world premiere of O. Bezborodko's Concerto "Steel. Violet. Rage." for piano four hands and string orchestra. 

Tickets and additional information can be found here.

Ms. Wilson and the Kyiv Camerata then travel to Lviv on December 7 for a program of Ukrainian and American works,  including John Corigliano’s Red Violin Suite and Missi Mazzoli’s Bass Concerto “ Dark with accessible bright”. 

Ms. Wilson’s three week tour of Ukraine concludes at the Lviv National Opera on December 12th, where she conducts Yuli Meitus’ opera, Stolen Happiness.

 Tickets and additional information can be found here. https://opera.lviv.ua/en/shows/ukradene-shhastya/ https://opera.lviv.ua/en/shows/ukradene-shhastya/

Penderecki’s Piano Concerto

“Resurrection” was recorded live from a performance at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in September 2021, with Lithuania’s legendary pianist Muza Rubackyté as soloist and the Lithuanian National Symphony conducted by Maestro Wilson.

Poland’s most celebrated contemporary composer,  

Penderecki, worked on this concerto in 2001-2002 and dedicated it to the events of September 11th, 2001, expressing in his own words:

“The title Resurrection should be understood in a broader, symbolic and universal context. It arises from the chorale that crowns the work and expresses the victory of life over death. I composed the chorale, a symbol of comfort and faith, immediately after the tragedy in New York. It was a purely human gesture and a sign of protest against cruelty.”

The recording is now available on your preferred streaming platform.

Maestro Wilson returns to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct five performances of Puccini’s La Bohème on October 21, 25, 30, and November 4 and 8, 2025. The final performance, November 8th, will be broadcast live around the world as part of the Met Live in HD series. Find your local movie theater here:

https://www.metopera.org/season/in-cinemas/2025-26-season/la-boheme/

Juliana Grigoryan sings Mimi, Freddie De Tommaso is Rodolfo, Heidi Stober appears as Musetta, and Lucas Meachem performs as Marcello.

Tickets and more information can be found here.

Following the conclusion of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra’s 2025 Summer Tour, Maestro Wilson begins her 2025/26 season with performances in Ireland and Ukraine.
On September 13, she leads a Verdi and Wagner gala at Irish National Opera, featuring soprano Sinéad Campbell Wallace, tenor Ryan Capozzo, and baritone Yngve Søberg in a program of dramatic operatic highlights. The concert will be broadcast live on RTÉ lyric fm. 

For more information on the Dublin gala concert, click here.

Later in the month on the 18th, she continues her work as music director of the Kyiv Camerata, leading a concert in Kyiv at the National Philharmonic Hall of Ukraine. The program features works by V. Zagortcev, Karabyts, O. Rodin, and B. Frolyak. The concert also includes two world premieres: Sophiafor Choir and Orchestra, by V. Poleva, and O. Bezborodko's new concerto, Steel. Violet. Rage.  for piano four hands and string orchestra. The performance includes the Kyiv Chamber Choir, soprano Susanna Chakhoyan, mezzo soprano Iryna Petrova, violinist Kyrylo Bondar, and pianists Dmytro Tavanets and Oleksandra Zaitseva. 

Tickets are available here.

Highlights of Ms. Wilson’s 2025/26 season include return engagements with the Metropolitan Opera to conduct La Bohème, Opéra national de Paris to conduct Carmen, and the Staatsoper Berlin to conduct Madama Butterfly. She makes her debut at the Santa Fe Opera conducting Eugene Onegin. Ms. Wilson conducts a Verdi and Wagner Gala with the Irish National Opera Orchestra at the Dublin Concert Hall, and  performances with the Orchestra national Bordeaux Aquitaine and Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2024, Ms. Wilson was appointed Music Director of the Kyiv Camerata, Ukraine’s leading chamber orchestra. Ms. Wilson leads the Kyiv Camerata in concerts both inside and outside of Ukraine in the 2025/26 season. Her season concludes with the Summer 2026 Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra tour.

For additional information and tickets, please visit Maestro Wilson's Calendar page here.

The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson, at the Tear Wielki in Warsaw 

As we celebrate Ukrainian Independence Day today, August 24, this stirring performance takes on new significance, even as the country continues to fight against violence, oppression, and tyranny. In the orchestra's emotionally charged rendition of Beethoven's triumphant celebration of joy, brotherhood, and humanity, the text of Schiller's great freedom poem "Ode to Joy" is sung in Ukrainian. Schiller's opening word "Freude" ("joy") is exchanged for the Ukrainian word "Slava" ("glory"), which conveys an electrifying effect in the moving echo of Ukraine's joint call for resistance in the face of aggression, Slava Ukraini! ("Glory to Ukraine!"). The Met is proud to support the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, and we remain steadfast in our support of Ukraine and its people and culture.

Featuring:
Olga Bezsmertna
Nataliia Kukhar
Vasyl Solodkyy
Vladyslav Buialskyi
The Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok

Click here to watch the performance, or download the free apps for Apple TV and iOS, Amazon Fire TV and Tablet, Roku, Android mobile devices, and Samsung Smart TV.

Keri-Lynn Wilson makes her debut at Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival this month on July 18th and 19th with a program of Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko’s Overture to Taras Bulba, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with soloist Augustin Hadelich, and Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5. The free performance with the Grant Park Orchestra takes place at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion as part of the Grant Park Music Festival.

Watch Maestro Wilson conduct the Taras Bulba overture here.

For more information, visit the event page here.

On June 15th, Ms. Wilson conducts the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Rundfunkchor in the Bachfest Leipzig for the first time. Performed at the historic Gewandhaus, the program includes J.S. Bach’s Toccata und Fuge d-Moll BWV 565 and Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 645. Also featured is Sergei Taneyev’s cantata, John of Damascus op. 1, and Shostakovich’s The execution of Stepan Razin.

The performance takes place on June 15th, and will be broadcast live MDR Klassik: live at 11:00 am and at 19:30 (on MDR KLASSIK – Radio und Konzerte | MDR.DE)

The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra to reunite for fourth summer tour

Program to feature Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony as a symbol of resilience against the forces of tyranny

In a gesture of solidarity, August dates will bring the orchestra to Baltic nations Lithuania and Latvia and the George Enescu Festival in Romania for the first time, as well as return visits to Lucerne, Amsterdam, Warsaw, and London.

The orchestra is proud to be again under the patronage of Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, continuing its vital role as a cultural ambassador for Ukraine’s artistic resilience

Maestro Wilson returns to the Metropolitan Opera to conduct five performances of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame (Queen of Spades) beginning on May 23rd. Following Ms. Wilson’s successful Met debut in 2022 conducting Shostakovich’s Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk, her all-star cast for Pique Dame include tenor Brandon Jovanovich as Hermann, the obsessive gambler, soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Lisa, Igor Golovatenko as Prince Yeletsky, Violeta Urmana as the Countess, Maria Barakova as Polina and Alexey Markov as Count Tomsky.

Performances take place on May 23rd, 28th, 31st; June 4th and 7th. Tickets and more information can be found here. 

On April 21st, Maestro Wilson conducted the Kyiv Camerata, the leading Ukrainian chamber orchestra, at the renowned Berlin Philharmonie in a concert featuring all Ukrainian music. Ms. Wilson became its Music Director in the fall and has been leading the ensemble in concerts both inside and outside of Ukraine. The program featured Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo in  Victoria Poleva’s “No Man is an Island,” as well as Camerata Artistic Director and violin soloist Bohdana Pivnenko, Camerata Co-Artistic Director Kateryna Suprun and viola solist, and pianist Dmitri Tavanets. 

This Spring, Maestro Wilson makes her debut conducting the Orchestre national de Metz Grand Est on March 28th in a concert featuring Shostakovich’s Symphony no.10, Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, with pianist Marie-Ange Nguci, and the French premiere of acclaimed Ukrainian composer Victoria Vita Poleva’s “Turn the River.”


The concert takes place at the Arsenal Grande Salle. Tickets and more information can be found​ here.