This August and September, Ms. Wilson leads the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, an ensemble comprised of prominent Ukrainian musicians hailing from across the war-torn country on a second tour of Europe and the UK. Founded in 2022 by Keri-Lynn Wilson, with the support of the Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra also includes Ukrainian refugees living in Europe and Ukrainian members of European orchestras.Their inaugural tour of Europe and the United States took place last summer. Now under the patronage of Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will assemble annually each summer to tour capital cities and festivals of the world.

While in London conducting La Traviata at the Royal Opera House, Ms. Wilson takes a break from Verdi’s eternal tragedy for two shows at the BBC Proms, conducting live performance editions of the popular BBC educational series, Horrible Histories. In these special concerts on July 22 at Royal Albert Hall, Ms. Wilson will lead the English National Opera Chorus, Orchestra, and singing soloists in Horrible Histories: ’Orrible Opera. An irreverent look at the history of opera, Ms. Wilson will conduct well know operatic excerpts, as well as interacting with the cast of the Horrible Histories television program. Musical selections will come from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Puccini’s Turandot, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries. It will be horrible fun!

The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC TV.

For tickets and more information, click here.

Ms. Wilson returns to the Royal Opera House in London this month to conduct Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. The timeless Richard Eyre production features Kristina Mkhitaryan as Violetta, Liparit Avetisyan as Alfredo and Juan Jesús Rodríguez and Christoph Pohl as Giorgio Germont.

Performances are set for July 10th, 13th, 17th, 19th, 21st, and 23rd. Tickets and more information can be found here.

Following its acclaimed 2022 inaugural tour of Europe and the United States, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, conducted by its Canadian Ukrainian music director, Keri-Lynn Wilson, will regroup this August for a tour of major European festivals and cities in a continuing demonstration of Ukrainian artistry as the nation fights for its freedom. The 74-piece orchestra includes Ukrainian musicians from across the country, some of the male members having received special permission from the Ukrainian government to serve their nation through their music, as well as Ukrainian refugee musicians and Ukrainian members of European orchestras. Ukrainian violinist Valeriy Sokolov will be the soloist.

Ms. Wilson conducts Richard Strauss’ Salome for the first time when she makes her conducting debut at the Houston Grand Opera later this month. The Francisco Negrin production stars soprano Laura Wilde in the title role, baritone Ryan McKinny as Jokanaan, tenor Chad Shelton as Herod, and mezzo-soprano Karita Mattila as Herodias.

On March 11th and 12th, Ms. Wilson conducts the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo in a special program celebrating the culture of Italy, featuring violinist Himari in the Paganini Violin Concerto.

“In memory of the Invincible”.

Dedicated to the anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion

Lviv National Opera invites you to commemorate victims of war

A year of fierce struggle, a year of fateful days and sleepless nights, a year of sad losses, but also a year of strength, courage, bravery, and, most importantly, faith in Victory! On February 22, on the eve of the first anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, Lviv National Opera invites you to join the commemoration of the fallen soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and all the innocents whose lives were cynically taken by Russia.

On April 28th, Ms. Wilson makes her Houston Grand Opera debut, conducting Strauss’ Salome in a new production directed by Francisco Negrin. Soprano Laura Wilde sings the title role and baritone Ryan McKinny is Jokanaan.

Upcoming this February, Maestro Wilson conducts the Filarmonia Arturo Toscanini in Parma, Italy. The program includes the world premiere of Uzbekistani composer Aziza Sadikova's Angelo di fuoco, Rachmaninov’s Concerto no. 2 featuring pianist Ivo Pogorelich and Prokofiev’s Symphony no.5. 

Continuing with her symphonic concerts for the New Year, Ms. Wilson makes her debut with Poland’s NFM FilharmoniaWrocławska on January 20th.

Ms. Wilson returns to Wiesbaden for the New Year to conduct the Hessisches Staatstheater Orchester in a program of Kaija Saariaho’s Du Cristal, Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor, featuring pianist Mūza Rubackytė, and Sibelius’s Symphony no.2 in D major.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a true culture war; Russia is seeking not just land but also the erasure of a nation’s artistic output and history. The brave soldiers fighting against that include the members of this pickup orchestra (which toured this summer under the assured baton of the conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson) and the Odesa Philharmonic, which traveled to Berlin for an inspiring performance in September. Throughout the year, powerful performances of Russian music — like a savagely colorful revival of Shostakovich’s “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk” at the Met this fall, with Wilson on the podium — gave the lie to Putinists’ claim that their country’s culture has been canceled in the West.

Ms. Wilson makes her second house debut of the season, conducting Tosca at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. This Roberto Oswald production, staged by Aníbal Lápiz, includes soprano María Pía Piscitelli as Floria Tosca, Marcelo Puente as Mario Cavaradossi, and Željko Lučić as Baron Scarpia.

Maestro Wilson returns to Vilnius to conduct the Lithuanain National Orchestra in a concert on November 12th at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Concert Hall featuring two of Lithuania’s most celebrated musicians: composer Vytautas Barkaukas and violinist Rusné Mataitytė.

Following her acclaimed debut at the Metropolitan Opera conducting Shosktakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Ms. Wilson returns to Europe to conduct the Orchestre national de Bordeaux Aquitaine in a concert of Ukrainian and Russian orchestral works and arias including Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, Lysenko’s Overture to Taras Bulba and arias by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Schedrin, featuring mezzo-soprano Marina Prudenskaya. The concert takes place at the Auditorium de Bordeaux on October 27th.

Photo: Eduard Uslee

Ms. Wilson opens her 2022/23 season with her much anticipated house debut at the Metropolitan Opera, where she conducts Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk in Graham Vick’s celebrated production. Russian soprano Svetlana Sozdateleva stars as Katerina Ismailova in her Met debut opposite American tenor Brandon Jovanovich as Sergei, Austrian tenor Nikolai Schukoff as Zinovy Ismailov and Canadian bass-baritone John Relyea as Boris Ismailov. The international cast includes three Russians and one Ukrainian, proof of the power of art over adversity.

Following the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra’s acclaimed inaugural tour of European festivals and capital cities of Europe and the United States, Ms. Wilson opens her 2022/23 season with her Metropolitan Opera debut, conducting a rare revival of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Ms. Wilson’s other operatic engagements in the new season include a return to the Royal Opera for La Traviata, her debut at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires for Tosca, a return to the Montreal Opera for Madama Butterfly, and a return to her alma mater, Juilliard, where she will be conducting a double bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. Ms. Wilson’s orchestral schedule in 2022/23 includes the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the Hessische Staatsorchester Wiesbaden, the ONBA - Orchestre national Bordeaux Aquitaine, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, the Lithuanian National Orchestra, the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo.

In advance of our arrival this week in the U.S. and our concerts in Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center, The New York Times and The Washington Post have published extensive articles about the brave and talented soldiers of music of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, who are so heroically defending the cultural heritage and freedom of their nation.

In defense of Ukraine and its cultural heritage, Keri-Lynn Wilson will be leading the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra on its inaugural tour of Europe and America.

Ms. Wilson will return to the Polish National Opera on June 17 and 18 to conduct performances of Carl Orff’s popular oratorio, Carmina Burana, in a theatrical production by scenic designer Boris Kudlička.