Seventy participants from six Ukrainian choirs and ensembles spent almost ten hours engaged in shared work, rehearsing together, learning from one another, and exchanging experiences. The workshop created space to strengthen choral practice, deepen engagement with Ukrainian vocal and choral traditions in a diasporic context, and build meaningful professional connections between ensembles. 

We are sincerely grateful to the invited Ukrainian experts who led the workshop — Yevhen Malyarevskyi, Ivanna Danyleiko, and Severyn Danyleiko. Their leadership, practical input, and professional insight shaped the programme and defined the depth and direction of the work throughout the day. We also thank all participating choirs — KORALI, Makivka Choir, PTAHA.UNL (Utrecht), Ptaha Choir (Limburg), RUTA, and VEDANA— for their openness, trust, and strong engagement. 

The public programme opened with a presentation by Koornetwerk Nederland, delivered by Ruben Timmer, introducing the Dutch choral landscape and opportunities for professional connection and collaboration. This was followed by a public discussion, Ukrainian Choral Music — Traditions and Vocal Communities, featuring Yevhen Malyarevskyi, Ivanna and Severyn Danyleiko, Olena Kopanychuk, and Natalia Malhanova, moderated by Maryana Golovchenko. The conversation addressed Ukrainian choral culture in a broader sense, including tradition and continuity, contemporary understandings of authenticity, cultural meaning across contexts, and the responsibility choirs carry through repertoire and sound. 

For the Ukrainian Institute, this project is part of our ongoing work to support Ukrainian cultural communities abroad, including amateur choirs and ensembles that play an important role in preserving, developing, and representing Ukrainian culture internationally. We place particular emphasis on creating opportunities for learning, professional development, and exchange, providing these communities with expert support and space to grow within the European cultural landscape. 

The project was organised in collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute and the VATAHA Foundation, with the support of DutchCulture and the Ministry of Asylum and Migration.