Ukrainian musicians return to village near Banbury for war victims' fundraising concert

The Kyiv Classic Duo will be performing at the historic St Peter and St Paul Church in Swalcliffe on Sunday July 30 at 6pm.

The duo, which consists of accomplished accordion player Igor Sayenko and talented cellist Viktor Rekalo, will present a varied programme of traditional and classical music, enhanced by the wonderful acoustics of the venue.

Entrance to the concert is free, and tickets and reservations are not required, but donations will be invited at the end of the concert, with all proceeds going to Chernihiv, a town that suffered badly during the first months of the conflict.

The duo’s UK 2022 tour raised over £23,000, with the Swalcliffe crowd making the largest contribution of all the venues, and organisers hope the generosity of the audience will enable them to increase their contribution this year.

Concert promoter Colin Hill said: "In the UK, most people who are not musicians (and even some who are) would consider the accordion primarily a folk instrument, or an instrument for weddings, gigs, or Morris dancing, and a rare guest on the ‘big classical stage’.

"Not so the European "bayan" chromatic accordion played by Igor. Its wide musical and dynamic range and its ability to perform incredibly fast and complex music puts it firmly at home on the European classical stage and in consort with classical orchestras of all sizes and with a wide and diverse repertoire."

For more information, visit http://www.swalcliffe.org/concerts/