Ukrainian-British mezzo-soprano presents a special concert combining music, storytelling and humanitarian action in support of Ukraine
London, UK — On Friday 9 October 2026, 7.30pm, award-winning Ukrainian-British mezzo-soprano Anna Starushkevych will perform Music to the Rescue at St Giles Cripplegate, London, as part of the Song in the City concert series.
The concert brings together music by British and Ukrainian composers, personal storytelling and film to highlight Ukraine’s cultural heritage and the human impact of war. Through UAid International – a charitable organisation providing urgently needed medical equipment in Ukraine – the proceeds from the concert will support the volunteer search group working to locate people missing as a result of the war in Ukraine Platsdarm.
Music to the Rescue is presented as part of the work of Music Will Save The World (MWSTW), the UK-registered non-profit organisation founded and led by Starushkevych. MWSTW uses artistic projects to build cultural bridges between the UK and Ukraine and to support charitable initiatives helping people affected by conflict.
The first mezzo-soprano to win the International Handel Singing Competition in London, Anna Starushkevych also received both the Audience Prize and the York Early Music Prize. Described as a “creative force” with a “unique timbre”, she is recognised for her compelling stage presence and work across opera and concert performance. Her discography includes the GRAMMY-nominated Decca recording of Handel’s Ottone, on which she appears as a principal singer alongside Il Pomo d’Oro. An alumna of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Course and Lviv National Music Academy, Starushkevych combines classical training with an artistic practice that increasingly connects music with cultural and humanitarian projects.
Joining Starushkevych on stage will be Gavin Roberts, pianist and Artistic Director of Song in the City. The programme features songs and piano works by British composers including Benjamin Britten, Jonathan Dove and John Whittaker, alongside music by Ukrainian composers Nyzhankivsky, Filtz and Shamo. The evening will conclude with a screening of MAGURA, a short operatic film written, directed and produced for MWSTW by Starushkevych and dedicated to people missing as a result of war, in Ukraine and around the world.
Anna Starushkevych said: “In the face of war, Music to the Rescue stands as a quiet act of artistic defiance — a reminder that beauty, dignity and hope endure even in the darkest times.
“As a Ukrainian-British artist, my life as a human being and as a creative can be divided into ‘before’ and ‘after’ 24 February 2022 — the day when the whole world learnt about my home country, Ukraine, but for the most tragic reasons. Many things suddenly stopped making sense, including singing. The only way I could give myself permission to sing again was if it somehow helped Ukrainians. What eventually came out of that period was a much broader understanding of what I could do with my voice as an artist, and my cultural and humanitarian projects have grown out of that with classical singing remaining at the core of my work.
“Then my relative went missing at the front. That led to the creation of MAGURA, a short operatic film dedicated to people missing as a result of war. From there came Music Will Save The World — a non-profit platform for meaningful artistic projects with a strong social focus, an aspiration to build cultural bridges between the United Kingdom and Ukraine, and a commitment to supporting communities affected by conflict.
“Using my voice as an international opera singer, recitalist, director and creator, I feel a deep responsibility to reflect the times I live in through art and to bring meaningful performances and projects to my audiences. I hope this concert will give audiences the opportunity to experience this first-hand.”
The concert will also feature Kristina Arakelyan’s Penelope, an original aria from her experimental contemporary opera Penelope. Seven Ways to Wait. The full orchestral opera premiered in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, in August 2025, where Starushkevych performed the lead role and directed this orchestral world premiere. The song performed at this London event now forms the instrumental overture to the full orchestral version of the cycle but will be performed here in its original 2016 form for voice and piano.
Throughout the evening, Starushkevych will share reflections and historical insights into Ukraine’s cultural heritage, creating a programme that connects the musical works with the country’s history and contemporary experience.
Starushkevych continues to build cultural bridges between the UK and Ukraine in a variety of ways, including developing links between the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Lviv National Music Academy, sourcing historical instruments for Lviv, and collaborating with composers such as John Whittaker, whose music setting English translations of Ukrainian poetry features in this performance.
More about MAGURA
Blending Ukrainian mythology with a contemporary storyline and documentary footage, MAGURA unfolds across three contrasting worlds: a peaceful pre-war past, the brutal reality of war, and a hoped-for future in which mythology and reality converge. At the centre of the film is Magura, the Ukrainian pagan goddess associated with war and victory. Handel’s aria Cara Sposa provides a recurring musical thread, with its central question — “Where are you?” — reinforcing the film’s themes of separation, loss, longing and hope.
The film was inspired in part by Starushkevych’s own experience of having a relative go missing at the front. It has subsequently been used to raise awareness and funds for Platsdarm, a volunteer search group working to locate people missing as a result of the war in Ukraine.
MAGURA had its world premiere in Münster, Germany, in April 2024. The film is intended for presentation at multidisciplinary discussion events, classical music performances and film festivals, encouraging conversation around the experiences of missing people and their families.