The Warsaw Freedom Orchestra was formed on March 25th, 2021, with its inaugural performance during the celebration of Belarusian Freedom Day in Warsaw. Many performances have followed, including a joint performance with Lyavon Volsky during the Cwik Festival in Lodz on December 18th, 2021; a recording of a joint video for Volsky’s song “Glory to Heroes”; and a charity concert in support of Ukraine on March 25th 2022. The guests included the Lithuanian, Austrian and Latvian
Ambassadors and other European Diplomats. The Warsaw Free Orchestra has also performed numerous times before the President of Belarus, Svetlana Tikhonovskaya.
The founder of the orchestra is Siarhei Dolhushau, organiser of many music projects and festivals in Belarus and abroad. The orchestra manager is Anastasia Matskevich, a Polish-Belarusian art activist
and the author of many cultural projects. The orchestra consists mostly of Belarusian professional musicians, most of whom were forced to emigrate after regime repressions of 2020-2022 in Belarus.
All the orchestra’s activities are aimed at showcasing Belarusian classical and modern music, finding new ways to bring it closer to the audience, finding the original sound of the Belarusian orchestra, supporting Belarusian culture, and drawing international attention to Belarusian events from 2020 to this moment.
Additionally, the orchestra is performing to protest the war in Ukraine, and has opened its doors to Ukrainian musicians.
This is the first and, so far, the only Belarusian professional orchestra outside Belarus.
WFO 