Ukrainian orchestra rushes inside as air raid siren disperses open-air concert in Lviv
7 April 2022, 12:51
Watch the moment an air raid siren forced the end of an outdoor concert in Ukraine...
On 26 March, air raid sirens prematurely ended an outdoor concert in Lviv, Ukraine shortly before the city was struck by missiles.
A large crowd had gathered to watch the open-air performance taking place outside the Lviv Opera House in the western Ukrainian city.
The concert celebrated the 180th anniversary of Ukrainian composer, Mykola Lysenko’s birth, and the performers included the choir and orchestra of the opera studio of the Lviv National Musical Academy (named after Mykola Lysenko).
The blast of the air raid siren interrupted the final few chords of Lysenko’s ‘Prayer for Ukraine’, a piece which has been performed around the world in solidarity with the country.
As the siren sounded, musicians and performers were ushered back into the theatre, while the crowd dispersed and made their way to their nearest shelters. Two missile strikes hit Lviv that evening.
Read more: Kharkiv residents soothed by classical music in underground festival as war continues in Ukraine
The Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadoviy, revealed on Twitter that the attacks had caused “significant damage” to infrastructure, with school windows blown out, and an oil depot targeted.
Black smoke could be seen billowing out across the city after the attacks.
In an address just a few days before the concert, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky played an air raid siren on his phone, to show other countries what his citizens were living with.
Zelensky played the clip for 20 seconds before saying, “Don’t be intimidated. This sound has become normal for everyone in our city. This air raid siren was just twenty seconds, while we’ve been listening to this for hours, days and weeks.
“With the sound of this siren Ukrainians live, work, try to sleep, get treatment for wounds, give birth to children, die.”
Read more: Tchaikovsky’s house destroyed by Russian army in north-east Ukraine
The concert outside the Lviv Opera House is not the first performance to be interrupted by sirens.
Just one day prior to the open-air performance outside the opera house, the Lviv International Symphony Orchestra held a concert in the city hall for the first time since the start of the invasion.
The orchestra posted the hour and a half concert to Facebook for the world to watch. However, the performance was interrupted by the words, “Maestro, the air alarm sounded, [we] need to go down to the [shelter].”
Despite the interruption, the orchestra posted that they were proud they “played a concert in such a difficult time for the country.”