ROME – Two student singers from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, one Russian and one Ukrainian, performed together at the Pantheon Wednesday evening as part of a concert calling for an end to war, cultural sources said.

 The concert, organised by the Undersecretary of Culture Lucia Borgonzoni, featured 30 young musicians of varying nationalities, headed by the maestro Michelangelo Galeati.

 Sofiia Chaika from Ukraine with her Russian friend Anna Koshkina sang together in a symbolic gesture to protest against the war.

“This concert means that, despite everything, you can find peace through the music,” said Koshkina. Music has become a way of uniting Ukraine and Russia in the face of the last terrible days.

 During the concert, the Ukrainian soprano performed three pieces including Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, which represented prayer for not only Ukrainians, but for all victims of war.

 In an interview with Ansa, Chaika from Lviv explained what the concert represented for her. “I will sing the Ukrainian anthem. I want to sing it to show that we don’t want to be a part of another country. We have our history. Ukraine was not created by Lenin as Putin said recently in an interview. It is not so.”

 “I have studied and I know well that our roots are ancient. For centuries we have had our culture, our poets. I want to represent all of this with my anthem” said the Ukrainian soprano.

 The Ukrainian singer also said that singing with a woman from enemy country was not an obstacle for her “until she says what Putin is doing is okay.”

 Chaika also talked about her feelings during these difficult days. “When I heard about the war on February 24, I wasn’t particularly worried. For two months now, there had been talk of war.”

 “Then when the news started coming in, I felt terrible. The bond with my land, only in this way can I explain what I feel.”

 Chaika’s family decided to stay in Ukraine despite the horrors of war.

 Every day, her relatives stay locked in the house, they don’t go out. They also put sandbags against the windows to protect them from bullets.

 The concert for peace at Pantheon had also special importance for Koshkina from Moscow in which she had opportunity to express herself for the first time since the war began. She said it was very important for her to sing together with her Ukrainian friend. The way for the Russian soprano to cope with this difficult time has been to be hopeful and create beautiful music that supports the spirit.  “Unfortunately we cannot know what will happen but I hope we will return in peace soon,” she concluded.

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