The KYIV SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS (KSOC) will present a FREE Tampa Bay concert at First Presbyterian Church, St. Petersburg, September 17 at 4 p.m. The concert will feature sacred classics as well as traditional Ukrainian music performed in colorful traditional Ukrainian clothing.

The 30 touring musicians of the KSOC, all of them women (because Ukrainian men are not allowed to travel to the United States during wartime), are graduates of the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy and now regularly perform in Ukraine and tour the U.S. and Canada.

The KSOC was founded in 1993 and began performing sacred masterpieces of classical music, including such pieces as Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, which were banned under Communist rule. According to the website of Music Mission Kiev, when the Iron Curtain lifted and this music became known to these Ukrainian artists, they described it as “an explosion of light.”

Music Mission Kiev is a non-profit organization dedicated to Christian mission and service to the people of Kyiv. The organization began with the experience of a Florida church music director who was invited to Ukraine to conduct Handel’s Messiah. Its outreach programs have expanded to focus on assistance for “widows in need of help and hope, children longing for care and connection, war victims and wounded people searching for shelter,” according to musicmissionkiev.org.

Host churches for this fall’s Southeastern United States tour, including First Presbyterian St. Petersburg, commit to raising funds for the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra and Chorus humanitarian aid mission for widows, orphans and war victims. Of these donations, 100 percent goes directly to their mission. A free-will offering will be collected at the concert. Those who wish to contribute (even if they don’t attend the concert), can do so by sending a check to First Presbyterian Church (701 Beach Drive NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701) or by going online to fpcstpete.com (then click the “Give” button and use the drop-down to find “Ukrainian Concert”).

Matt Clear, Director of Traditional Worship Music and the Arts at First Presbyterian Church stated, “When we see news on the television, or read an article about the atrocities taking place in Ukraine, I think we all feel somewhat powerless and ill-equipped to help the people who are impacted. I think this concert/mission project creates a tangible way that we can render assistance through the power of music and humanitarian aid that these funds provide.”