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On Friday evening, a group of Ukrainians gathered outside Swansea Brangwyn Hall, deeply distressed by a concert of Russian music being celebrated there.

The event, presented in paid partnership with BBC, featured the BBC National Orchestra of Wales performing works by Dmitri Shostakovich on 3 October at 7:30pm. The programme included Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto and the Leningrad Symphony, led by award-winning Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft and joined by internationally acclaimed violinist Clara-Jumi Kang.

The Leningrad Symphony, composed during the siege of Leningrad in 1941-1942, is frequently used by Russian propaganda to glorify “heroism” and military “victories,” making its celebration particularly painful for Ukrainians experiencing Russia’s current invasion.

Promotional materials for the BBC National Orchestra of Wales concert featuring Russian imagery and messaging about ‘defiance’

The concert was advertised as a “captivating” evening that would include a symphony “depicting defiance and heroism in the face of the invasions of war.” For many Ukrainians, this messaging felt callous and cruel. While thousands of Ukrainians, including over 20,000 children, remain in Russian captivity, while Russia’s invasion tortures their country every single day, while the war continues to take lives, hopes, and the future of their people, the celebration of Russian culture feels outrageous.

Ukrainians gathered outside Swansea Brangwyn Hall to protest the Russian music concert on 3 October 2024

“The music itself is not evil, but it can be attributed to an evil state,” said Dr. Dmitri Finkelshtein, chair of Sunflowers Wales, a volunteer organization supporting Ukraine. “The Russian state constantly uses culture, often stolen culture, to humanise its bloody face and to infiltrate its rotten ideology into the normality of the world.”

Many local people who spoke with the protesters expressed words of support for Ukraine and admitted they had not realised the significance of attributing this concert to Russia. The Ukrainian community expressed gratitude for the support they continue to receive in Wales.

From conversations held during the protest, it was also learned that the BBC Wales Orchestra has previously declined to perform Russian music. “The circumstances have not changed: every day, Ukrainian civilians are targeted; every day, Russia brings horror, suffering, and tears to our families; every day, Ukrainian soldiers fight for our land, our nation, our future,” Finkelshtein stated.

“Until this terrible threat to our country ends, in the so-called ‘Russian culture’, the blood on the state’s hands will overshadow everything else,” he concluded.

The protest highlights the ongoing tension between cultural appreciation and political sensitivity during wartime, particularly for communities directly affected by the conflict.

Videos from the protest showing Ukrainian community members expressing their concerns (left) and BBC National Orchestra promotional video (right)

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