The joint concert by the Ascona Choral Academy, the London Tenebrae Choir, and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine serves as a powerful symbol of peaceful coexistence, bringing the 2026 festival and the first edition of the Ascona Choral Academy to a resounding close.

In 2016, Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (YsOU) to support talented young musicians from across the country. In times of war, this orchestra has become an international ambassador for Ukraine’s cultural identity and has delighted audiences at concerts across Europe ever since. Ukrainian composer Hanna Havrylets died on February 27, 2022, in Kyiv, just three days after the start of the Russian invasion, due to a lack of medical care. “Canticum,” written for string orchestra, resonates as a wordless prayer, marked by deep melancholy yet unshakable inner strength.

The story behind the creation of Antonín Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater,” Op. 58, is inextricably linked to the composer’s tragic misfortunes; while working on his “Stabat Mater,” Dvořák lost three of his children.

In the midst of this painful time, Dvořák found a way to express his personal grief in the medieval sequence about the suffering of the Mother of God at the Cross. Rather than dwelling in despair, this deeply moving music leads from the somber B minor to a hopeful finale, becoming a symbol of faith’s power and the triumph over death.

A few words on the fact that singers from the Ascona Choral Academy are joining forces here with Tenebrae and the orchestra; this collaboration serves as a symbol of peaceful coexistence and as a powerful exclamation point to mark the conclusion of the festival and, at the same time, the conclusion of the first edition of the Ascona Choral Academy 2026.

Programme

Hanna Havrylets – Canticum for string orchestra
Antonín Dvořák – Stabat Mater for soloists, choir, and orchestra, Op. 58

Artist Information

Maria Stella Maurizi, Soprano
Freya Apffelstaedt, Alto
Tomislav Jukic, Tenor
Lobel Barun, Bass
classicAscona Festival Choir
[with the participation of the Tenebrae Choir]
(Nigel Short, rehearsal director)
Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Oksana Lyniv, Conductor

Artist(s)