Aarhus, Denmark, May 2022

Your help is crucial at this moment in history.

THE CHILDREN OF KYIV ARE IN DANGER

The children's choir in Kyiv Shchedryk celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It is probably Ukraine's most recognised children's choir. Under Marianna Sablina, the choir has performed on stages in Canada, the United States, Sweden and, yes, in both Russia and Ukraine.

This year, the choir had planned a major world tour on the occasion of its 50th birthday, but then came the war and they were dispersed across the city. Before the war started, they recorded this beautiful lullaby “THE BUNNY WALKS”. Today Saul Zaks with Choir of the Earth invites the world to sing The Bunny Walks as a call for global peace.

Ukrainian folk song The Bunny Walks is arranged by Ukrainian composer Roman Surzha. Roman Surzha is a Ukrainian composer whose creative assets include music for plays, cinema, choreographic productions, and choral works. He lives in Kyiv.

Shchedryk Choir performs his four works. At the international choral and sacred music festival Musica Sacra a Roma, held in the summer residence of the Pope in 2005, Hallelujah performed by the Shchedryk Choir received the highest score, which brought them victory in the competition.

The Danish Argentinian Israeli conductor Saul Zaks, artistic director of the Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival, in Vienna, first heard the Kyiv choir during the festival's 2019 Youth Choir competition. They won first place. When the invasion began, Zaks first attempted to evacuate members of the children’s choir out of Kyiv and into Denmark, arranging transportation and lodging. But the effort proved impossible.

Tanya Kalyta, head of the Cultural Diplomacy International Institute, which represents the choir internationally, came to Zaks with another idea: Help shine a spotlight on the singers — all between the ages of 11 and 16 — by getting the choir’s songs out into the world.

The children’s choir has so far only managed to record two songs, both lullabies, from St. Andrew’s Church in Kyiv.

Zaks immediately got to work on the new mission, contacting international choirs and children’s organizations to spread the word and find ways to share the music.

In collaboration with Choir of the Earth, Zaks has put out a request to global children's choirs to perform a traditional folk song from the Shchedryk Children’s Choir repertoire called “The bunny walks." This will take place throughout the month of May and the song will be released in early June. This is a global invitation to make music a cultural and artistic ambassador for world peace.

“I believe that deep, deep into their souls, they will connect with this sound and they will say, ‘We have to stop.’ Because we have to find out as humans what we are doing. I mean, what is this all about? I mean, what are we doing?

We hope that we have touched your hearts, and that you can help us spread the word about this important work in progress.

How to participate? Visit:

www.choiroftheearth.com

Shchedryk Children's Choir - Kyiv

https://www.schedryk.com/en/

Saul Zaks

http://saulzaks.com/

https://www.sclfestival.org/

Media Center

www.thebunnywalks.com

Would you like more information or interviews?

Please do not hesitate to contact us:

Organiser:

Mark Strachan BEM, mark@choiroftheearth.com

Director:

Saul Zaks, saulzaks@gmail.com

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HELP US SHARING

#thebunnywalks