Choir to perform peaceful pieces

WITH war ongoing between Ukraine and Russia, one of Melbourne’s premiere choirs will be visiting to share a simple message.

On Saturday, 9 July, the Melbourne Bach Choir will take to Ballarat Central Uniting Church to perform A Concert for Peace, celebrating music of 20th century Eastern Europe.

The event’s director and conductor Rick Prakhoff is of Ukrainian descent, and said the concert will serve as “a statement of support.”

“What’s happening in Ukraine is absolutely awful, and this is in support of those that are suffering,” he said.

“I’ve selected music by two Ukrainian composers to open the program, and many of the pieces were written during significant wartime strife in those regions.

“There’s also a Russian connection because during the Soviet Union, there wasn’t really a distinction between the two, so both countries almost own these pieces as much as the other.

“It’s celebrating the music, not the politics.”

Prakhoff will conduct a choir of over 30, accompanied by chamber strings and Ballarat expat Calvin Bowman on organ.

The concert will feature works by notable Eastern European composers like Mykola Lysenko and Valentin Silvestrov, alongside pieces like Samuel Barber’s Adagio.

Prakhoff arranged the program, and the piece he’s most excited about is Zoltán Kodály’s Missa Brevis, written in the Budapest Opera House’s cellar during World War Two when Prakhoff’s father fled Ukraine.

He said the choir is a “luxury casting” for both himself and Ballarat.

“It’s wonderful to share this inspiring music with the people of Ballarat with both organ and a string ensemble at the same time,” he said.

“I think these are very rewarding pieces to listen and the theme of peace is a universal one.”

Tickets are $40, concession $35 and students and children are $20, To book visit bit.ly/38PCQtN.