Social

Commemorating the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holodomor in Geneva and Bern

23 November, 2023

On November 24th and 25th, in two Swiss cities, Bern and Geneva, there are scheduled events dedicated to honoring the memory of the victims of the Holodomor in Ukraine.

Traditionally, every fourth Saturday in November, Ukrainians remember the victims of the 1932-1933 Holodomor. This year, that date falls on November 25th. Ukrainians residing in Switzerland, as well as local residents, have the opportunity to participate in two significant events happening in Bern and Geneva on this solemn day.

Concert in Bern

On November 24th, at the Yehudi Menuhin Forum in Bern, a concert commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor in Ukraine will take place at 19:30. The event will feature performances by Andriy Lushnytsky, President of the Ukrainian Society of Switzerland, Irina Venediktova, Ambassador of Ukraine to Switzerland, Natali Imboden, a member of the Swiss Parliament.

The concert program includes performances by the "Virtuosos of Lviv" quartet, consisting of:

Oksana Potapova, violin
Khrystyna Yusypovych-Burko, violin
Iryna Polova, viola
Liubov Holovata, cello
Svitlana Samoylenko, soprano
Svitlana Sirenko, piano
Luka Dubinets, piano

The program includes compositions such as:

"Our Father" for string quartet by Maxim Berezovsky (1745-1777)
Aria for soprano "Seufzer, Tränen" from BWV 21 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Cleopatra's Aria "Piangerò la sorte mia" from the opera "Giulio Cesare" by G.F. Handel (1685 - 1759)
Andante for string quartet by Vasyl Barvinsky (1888-1963)
From string quartet No. 4: Andante sostenuto by Boris Lyatoshynsky (1895-1968)
"Melody" for piano - an album leaf for string quartet by Myroslav Skoryk (1938-2020)

Songs and arias for soprano and piano include works such as:

"Two Streams from the Black Mountains" by Anatoliy Kos-Anatolsky (1909 - 1983)
Magda's Aria "Ch'il bel sogno di Doretta" from the opera "La Rondine" by Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924)
Koschubianka's Arie from the opera "Kashubian" by Felix Novovyi (1877 - 1946)
"If I Could Embroider" by Nina Andriyevska (1927 - 2014)
"I Would Like to Become a Song" by Fedir Nadenenko (1902 - 1963)
"Oh, in the Blue Sky" by Mykhailo Zherbin (1911 - 2004)
"Little Raindrops" by V. Kucherov (1925 - 2001)
"I Paved a Path" by Fedir Nadenenko (1902 - 1963)
Prayer for string quartet by Valeriy Kvasnevsky (*1953)
Psalm for string quartet by Arvo Pärt (*1935)
An arrangement of the Ukrainian folk song "Oi, in the Field Three Frogs" for string quartet by Oleksandr Saratsky (*1961)

For more details about this event, please visit the provided link.

Event Address: Yehudi Menuhin Forum Helvetiaplatz 6, 3005 Bern

Organizer: Ukrainian Society in Switzerland

Public Conference in Geneva

On November 25th, from 15:30 to 17:00, a public conference will be held at the Museum of Art and History in Geneva, with the participation of representatives of the Ukrainian community.

Conference participants will include:

Yevheniia Filipenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva
Andriy Lushnytsky, President of the Ukrainian Society in Switzerland, Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Switzerland
Khrystyna Batruk, President of the Bogdan Havrylyshyn Family Foundation
Oles Ilchenko, Ukrainian historian and writer, along with invited experts and other guests.

You can register for the event at the provided link.

Event Address: Rue Charles-Galland 2, 1206 Geneva

The conference is supported by the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva and the Geneva Department of the Ukrainian Society in Switzerland.