On November 6, the concert Unbreakable Harmony: Voices of Youth and Hope will take place in New York, featuring the Girls' Chamber Choir of the Lysenko Kyiv State Music Lyceum and the Westchester Children’s Chorus. The program will include works of Ukrainian sacred and folk music, as well as the world premiere of a composition by Ukrainian composer Iryna Aleksiychuk.
This is reported in a press release.
The Girls' Chamber Choir of the Lysenko Kyiv State Music Lyceum will perform at the Zankel Hall in New York’s Carnegie Hall together with the American ensemble Westchester Children’s Chorus. The concert Unbreakable Harmony: Voices of Youth and Hope is scheduled for November 6, 2026, at 7:30 PM.
The artistic director and conductor of the Kyiv choir is Yuliia Puchko-Kolesnyk, with Vira Shemchuk serving as choir master and assistant vocal conductor. The American choir is led by its founder and artistic director, Amanda C. Gandling. The project's producer is pianist Irena Portenko, who was born in Kyiv and studied at the Lysenko Music Lyceum.
The Kyiv ensemble's program features works by Dmytro Bortniansky, Lesia Dychko, Ihor Shamo, Hanna Havrylets, Volodymyr Zubytskyi, and Mykola Lysenko. The choir will also perform the diptych "And Angels Will Descend..." by Ukrainian composer Iryna Aleksiychuk. Written in 2026 for a cappella female choir, the piece will be performed before an audience for the first time.
A special place in the program is held by Mykola Leontovych's "Shchedryk", which will be performed at the end of the concert. In 1922, the Ukrainian National Chorus led by Oleksandr Koshyts introduced this work at Carnegie Hall. Subsequently, the melody became globally famous through its English-language version, "Carol of the Bells".
The Kyiv choir will also perform Mykola Lysenko's "Prayer for Ukraine", excerpts from Lesia Dychko's cantata "Four Seasons", Ihor Shamo's folk opera "Yatran Games", and other works by Ukrainian composers. The program of the American Westchester Children’s Chorus features compositions about light, faith, hope, and peace.
Before the concert, welcoming remarks are scheduled from Irena Portenko and Amanda Gandling, followed by an address by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, and the performance of the national anthems of Ukraine and the United States. In the final part, Lesya Ukrainka's poem "Contra Spem Spero" will be recited in Ukrainian and English, alongside a speech by Natalie Pawlenko, President of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America.
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The evening will conclude with a performance of the African American spiritual "Deep River" and "Shchedryk". The organizers note that the program is subject to change.
Photo: Irena Portenko
Author: Danylo Pievchev