Ukrainian refugees perform with homeland orchestra

A group of young Ukrainian refugees living in the UK said it was "insane" to perform with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine.

The concert, held at Birmingham Symphony Hall on Tuesday, aimed to share Ukrainian culture and music with communities across the West Midlands.

Musician Nik said the performance was something he had "never done before", but felt excited rather than worried prior to the concert.

The Ukrainian refugees are part of a musical collective named Vinochok which was set up in January with the aim of using music to help children with trauma, wellbeing and cultural identity.

Playing the music aimed to help cultural retention, the support team Birmingham for Ukraine said.

Many welcomed the musicians on stage as the concert began including

"If these two or three minutes this evening can somehow help and connect them back to the life that they left, then I feel that the orchestra and I have done our Christian duty to support this", said the orchestra's principal conductor Theodore Kuchar.

One of the young musicians taking part, Olena, enjoyed music and dancing at school when she lived in Ukraine.

She said that she "really missed" her friends there, but that she had made new ones since arriving in the UK.

Young musicians playing in the concert described the range of emotions that they had felt from joy to nerves.

"It's very exciting because we are performing with a very special orchestra," one musician said.

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