On Thursday, 5 June 2025, the Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet hosted the Music Charred by War concert under the Seventh Bohdan Wesolowsky International Festival of Retro Music.
The event marked the 110th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Ukrainian composer and cultural figure Bohdan Wesolowsky. The composer was one of the prominent Ukrainians who were forced to leave Ukraine and became important figures of Ukrainian culture abroad, also serving as brilliant representatives of Ukrainian cultural diplomacy.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ihor Ostash is the Festival’s founder, visionary, and inspirator. Throughout all the years of the Festival’s development, Stanislav Lytvynov has been its constant director, and this year, he created a unique visual addition, thanks to which the audience viewed the composer’s archival photographs. The programme for the Music Charred by War gala concert, which immersed the audience in the life and work of composer Bohdan Wesolowsky, was produced by Andriana Bila. The second expanded edition of Ihor Ostash’s book Bondi or Returning of Bohdan Wesolowsky was also published to coincide with the festival. The audience and participants of the gala concert had a unique opportunity to get the autograph of the Festival’s founder. The run-up to the event also saw the release of the retro newspaper RetroMuzFest: Music Charred by War by Andriana Bila. The audience could learn more about all the events of the festival and its concept from the pages of the retro newspaper. The book and the newspaper were released thanks to the support of the GDIP. The layout and design of the newspaper were handled by Maryna Boholii, an employee of the Media Center Directorate.
The gala concert was attended by foreign diplomats, honorary consuls, representatives of international organisations, the Ukrainian cultural community, Ukrainian heroes, warriors, and defenders of Mariupol, including Pavlo Matiiash — a border guard who used to work at the Embassy of Ukraine in Lebanon — with his brothers-in-arms. Director-General Pavlo Kryvonos attended the event on behalf of the Directorate-General for Rendering Services to Diplomatic Missions.
The role of the event’s presenters was played by Rymma Ziubina, a well-known Ukrainian film and theatre actress, and Ihor Ostash, the founder of the Festival, a researcher and promoter of Bohdan Wesolowsky’s work.
The event symbolically began with the Anthem of Ukraine, the song ‘Oi u luzi chervona kalyna’ [‘Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow’], and a minute of silence honouring the memory of the fallen defenders. The guests also paid their respects to Mykhailo Shelest, who is the chief operator of the International Festival of Retro Music and currently serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. A unique FPV drone was demonstrated on the stage of the Lviv Opera, which, when switched on, plays the melody of one of the composer’s most recognisable hits, ‘Pryide shche chas’ [‘There Will Come Another Time’].
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Argentina to Ukraine, Elena Leticia Mikusinski, made a special gift for the gala concert guests: she invited a pair of dancers to perform a tango and sent her message, which was read out by the presenter, Rymma Ziubina.
The audience of the cultural event enjoyed jazz pieces, tangos, foxtrots, and Bohdan Wesolowsky’s unique hits performed on the stage of the Lviv Opera by Jamala, a Eurovision winner and decorated Ukrainian star; Oksana Mukha, the ‘soul of Ukrainian musical culture’ and winner of the Holos Krainy contest; Victoria Loukianetz, a soloist of the Vienna Opera and People’s Artist of Ukraine; People’s Artist of Ukraine Oleh Lykhach; the Pikkardiyska Tertsiya band; virtuoso musician Tymofii Iliukhin; bandura player and founder of the Shpyliasti Kobzari band Yaroslav Dzhus; singer Orest Tsymbala; Nataliia Revkevych, an actress of the Mariia Zankovetska Theatre; and singers Aurelija Blažytė, Mariia Oneshchak, Liliana Ravrukh, and Victoria Syvous.
The High Castle Ensemble, led by Grammy Award-winning music director Andrii Yatskiv, and the Kyiv Tango Orchestra provided musical accompaniment. Hanna Kozytska, Volodymyr Griner, Solomiia Kudyn, and Viktor Sokruta performed dances.
The true highlight of the Festival was the performance of the Diplomatic Band, which included Roman Waschuk, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine (2014–19), jury member for the RetroMuzFest contest, and a passionate admirer of Bohdan Wesolowsky’s work; Zenon Koval, a Belgian diplomat of Ukrainian descent, one of the first performers of Bohdan Wesolowsky’s music in Western Europe (in the 1980s, he performed with Amor-2 band in Paris), and head of the contest’s jury panel; and Ihor Ostash, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and the Festival’s founder.
The event also included a retro fashion contest for men, with GDIP Director-General Pavlo Kryvonos winning one of the awards. The juries for the contest were respected and well-known Ukrainian designers: Olena Dats and the two founders of the Andreas Moskin brand, Andrii Moskin and Andreas Bilous.
Another part of the gala concert was the awards ceremony for the winners of the performers’ contest of the Seventh Bohdan Wesolowsky International Festival of Retro Music. Jamala and Zenon Koval presented the awards from the Ukrainian cosmetics brand Malevich.
