Albany Symphony Orchestra stands in solidarity with Ukraine

Back in 1997, then-37-year-old Hillard traveled to Kharkov, Ukraine, along with renowned pianist Veda Zuponchich, as guest conductor of the Kharkov Philharmonic Society.

Credit: Carlton Fletcher

Credit: Carlton Fletcher

“First of all, the people there were so warm and appreciative,” Hillard said on Monday, two days after the French Excursion portion of the orchestra’s “Passport to Adventure” season performance at the Albany Municipal Auditorium. “They were welcoming, and it was just this great cultural thing to have guest conductors come to their country from other parts of the world.

“I flew into and stayed in Moscow (with Zuponchich), and from there we traveled by train to Kharkov on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for rehearsals. We had dress rehearsal on Friday and did the concert on Saturday. We ended up speaking mostly in German because I spoke German and many of the musicians did, too. But music is a universal language; the terminology is pretty much the same in all languages.”

From his time in Ukraine, Hillard befriended several individuals involved in the production, and two of them became Facebook friends with whom he’s stayed in infrequent contact.

“I’ve checked up on them since the atrocities started, but I haven’t heard back from them,” Hillard said.

The Albany maestro said he was not able to judge the audience’s reaction to the Ukraine National Anthem during Saturday’s performance because his back was to the crowd. But Symphony General Manager LeeAnna Anglin said the audience was touched.

“I don’t think anyone went in expecting (the tribute to Ukraine),” Anglin said. “But I think across the board, everyone was moved by the experience.”

While Hillard has not had contact with his Ukrainian Facebook friends since their country came under attack, he forwarded to a reporter before and after pictures of the famed Kharkov Academic Opera and Ballet Theater where he’d served as guest conductor some 25 years ago. The lushly ornate music hall had been utterly destroyed by Russian bombs.

“In addition to the loss of innocent lives, they are needlessly destroying national treasures. It is such a waste,” Hillard said.

In an article from a Ukrainian newspaper published after his turn as musical director of the Kharkov Philharmonic in 1997 — an article that features a photograph of a much younger, and dashing, Hillard under the headline ‘The Magic Wand’ of Maestro Hillard” — the reviewer wrote, “The mutual connections of the author (Prokofiev) and the performer get built through realization of the commencing idea of the composition along with the psychology and the spiritual contents of the creator. This connection was successfully recreated by our American visitor.”

The Ukrainian National Anthem (translated):

Ukraine’s glory has not yet died, nor her freedom,

Upon us, my young brothers, fate shall yet smile.

Our enemies will perish, like dew in the morning sun,

And we too shall rule, brothers, in our own land.

Souls and bodies we’ll lay down, all for our freedom,

And we will show that we, brothers, are of the Cossack nation.

Credit: Albany Herald

Credit: Albany Herald

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