Odesa Orchestra Tours Japan to Raise Awareness of War in Ukraine

Hirofumi Yoshida, the principal guest conductor of the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, is leading a 60-member orchestra on a concert tour in three Japanese cities in March. He aims to spread awareness about the ongoing war in Ukraine through music.

Yoshida, who moved to Europe in 1999, has served as principal guest conductor and other positions at the Opera House of Bologna in Italy. In 2020, he conducted a production of "Madame Butterfly" for the first time at the Odesa opera house.

In 2021, he was appointed as principal guest conductor at the request of the Odesa theater. He was planning to conduct concerts in Ukraine after the COVID-19 pandemic, but in February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Yoshida sent a message to the orchestra, saying that he would continue playing with his fellow musicians in Odesa. With the evacuation advisory issued by the Japanese government in place, the conductor could finally enter Ukraine in September 2023.

While he conducted the orchestra at the opera theater in wartime Odesa, the number of its members had decreased from 108 to 80 as some had died in battle, were drafted by the military or evacuated from the country. Still, the orchestra continued rehearsals as air-raid sirens blared throughout the streets.

Yoshida began a crowdfunding campaign to cover the expenses of the orchestra's concerts in Japan, and it raised more than 20 million yen ($131,700). The orchestra will perform in Yokohama, Kobe and Hokkaido's Kitami in March.

The Kobe concert will start at 7 p.m. on March 7 at the Kobe Asahi Hall. S seats sell for 12,000 yen, A seats for 10,000 yen and student seats for 3,000 yen. Patronage seats cost 50,000 yen, of which 38,000 yen will be donated to the orchestra.