Kyiv Symphony Orchestra And Chorus Brings Sacred Ukrainian And World Classical Music To The Nation's Capital

"In the fall of 2006, the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus will take its eighth tour of the United States. The 160 members of the KSOC have performed in America's greatest halls, including the famous Carnegie Hall in New York City. Their programs include not only great Western classics, but also the rich musical heritage of famous Ukrainian composers such as Bortnyansky and Prokofiev.

The KSOC concerts are geared to the American conservative public and they seem to delight their audiences because they keep on coming back to the same communities. Their niche is to have many concerts, stay within the community group that is hosting them (church communities) and collect or earn money for the religious organization which sponsors them which in turn uses that money for its mission in Ukraine.

The tour is sponsored by Music Mission Kiev whose purpose is to bring the sacred masterpieces of classical music to the country of Ukraine proclaiming the Gospel to and through Ukrainian musicians to the world--and ministering to the emerging Christian community in Ukraine [sic] through evangelism, discipleship, and humanitarian outreach to widows and orphans."

WHEN:
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
7:30 p.m.
(There will also be concerts in Salisbury, MD on September 19 and in Williamsburg, VA on September 22.)

WHERE:
National Presbyterian Church
4101 Nebraska Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20016-2793
202-537-7553 or 202-537-0800

COST:

No tickets required. Freewill offering.

http://www.musicmissionkiev.org.

Source: via UKRAINIAN-AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSOCIATION

The Ukrainian-American Environmental Association (UAEA) is a private,
non-governmental organization founded in 2004 and chartered in both the
United States and Ukraine. It is a network of more than 700 Ukrainian and
American NGOs, academic researchers, businesses, and government officials
founded to facilitate the exchange of information on a broad array of
environmental issues including, but not limited to, energy policy, climate
change, air and water pollution, toxic wastes, soil conservation,
sustainable agriculture, and wildlife and wilderness protection.












The Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv, although started in 1113, represents one of the most typical examples of Ukrainian Baroque architecture.

Damaged in the Second World War and subsequently razed to make space for the never- begun second building of the Soviet Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Cathedral and Monastery Complex was restored by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church between 1991 and 2003.

Original artwork from the razed Monastery is preserved in the nearby Saint Sophia Cathedral and Monastery Museum Complex, which along with the religiously active Kyiv Pecherk Lavra (Caves) Cathedral and Monastery Complexes, have been UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1990.

Designed to rival Hagia Sophia in Constantinople [today Istanbul, Turkey], Kyiv's Saint-Sophia Cathedral symbolized the 'new Constantinople', capital of the Christian principality of Kyiv, which was created in the 11th century in a region evangelized after the baptism of Saint Vladimir in 988 CE. The spiritual and intellectual influence of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra contributed to the spread of Orthodox thought and the Orthodox faith in the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian worlds from the 17th to the 19th century.

The Orthodox Christian community of Ukraine -- one of the world's ancient centers of sacred Christianity --is hardly emerging, despite the beliefs of some conservative American evangelicals.

Photo credit: Wikipedia. With thanks.