During World War II, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony became a shorthand throughout Europe. With Morse code for the letter V (three dots and a dash) following the same pattern as the symphony’s iconic opening notes, the tune came to represent victory in occupied Europe.
Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson also reads a sense of triumph in the work—as well as one of resilience. That’s why it’s being featured in her latest tour with the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, an ensemble comprising 74 musicians, all Ukrainian, including recent refugees and Ukrainian members of European orchestras. It was formed by Wilson (who is Canadian-Ukrainian) in the weeks following Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
The musicians initially came together that summer for a concert tour of Europe and the United States. It was a massive undertaking, one that Wilson thought would be a one-off, followed perhaps the following year by a victory tour. Three years later, however, “here we are,” Wilson says. She’s speaking from her dressing room in Warsaw, where the Freedom Orchestra’s fourth tour (nicknamed the Resilience Tour) will launch on August 14. It concludes in London on August 29, with stops in Switzerland, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and the Netherlands along the way.
On a rehearsal break, Wilson speaks to Vogue about the upcoming tour, her fall schedule conducting in Kyiv (where she is music director of the Kyiv Camerata) and Lviv, and—in between—her return to the Metropolitan Opera for a revival of Puccini’s La Bohème.
Vogue: How is it being reunited with the musicians of the Freedom Orchestra?
Keri-Lynn Wilson: Everything’s absolutely wonderful, despite the tragedy that’s ongoing in our lives. We don’t see each other for a year, so it’s such an emotional experience when we all come together. And then the new repertoire, that’s exciting. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is very powerful. It has a very strong message of resilience, which is our message on this tour.
Has it gotten easier to bring these tours together each year?
No—hell no! [Laughs.] With the war progressing, things are actually getting tougher. It’s tougher to get the male musicians out of the country. For example, we have a player who, two days before he was to come here, was drafted, and we couldn’t get him out. In the past, we had help from the Ministry of Culture. [But now] it’s a huge problem in Ukraine: They are desperate for men. So we’re very concerned. The best-case scenario is that he plays in the military band there, but at this moment he’s in physical training.
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