These long weekends are special for many Ukrainians as we are celebrating the 30th independence anniversary.
For Access students from Ukraine, it was unforgettable for many reasons. Our talented learners, who are also great musicians, visited a unique event organized by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, with the support of NGO PH Harmony and NGO Svitlo. More about the event https://www.44.ua/.../v-kieve-nacinaetsa-koncert-v-parke...
This is what our participants and their parents say: "Everything went well, the teenagers - Oleksii Veremenko and Kateryna Nykyforenko - got to know the musicians and the organisers, and had a good conversation in English. Before the concert, one of the leaders of the American delegation came up to us and was pleased to meet the Access participants. They discussed the importance of the project for Ukrainian students, talked about hobbies, musical genres, attractive tourist sites in Ukraine, national symbols and cuisine. In the meantime, the orchestra was rehearsing, and then the musicians had a small talk with the children. They chatted about their forthcoming joint performance with other orchestras (the British Colchester Army Band and the National Presidential Orchestra (Ukraine)), about their life and work.
The concert was excellent. The orchestra performed works of mainly American composers. We were particularly impressed by the jazz composition (Sing, sing, sing by Louis Prima). Now students have a lot of impressions. We are grateful to all the organizers for the amazing trip".
We express our appreciation to all partners and those involved. Such activities help bring great leaders to society and raise caring citizens.

Author: Olena Tanchyk