Kyiv Baroque Fest: 11 Days of Early Music at the Philharmonic

From 12 to 22 November, the third Kyiv Baroque Fest is under way at the National Philharmonic of Ukraine (2 Volodymyrskyi Descent, Kyiv). Over eleven days it brings more than 30 events: daytime and evening concerts, talks, masterclasses, open discussions and a photo exhibition in the foyer. Concert tickets start at UAH 125. All in all, a great excuse for a weekend in Kyiv on 14–15 or 21–22 November.

This year's theme is "Gesualdo/Mozarts: Incomprehensibility as Hope" (Dzhezualdo/Motsarty: nezbahnennist yak nadiia). So it's not just about Wolfgang Amadeus: the festival also looks at his sister Nannerl, his son Franz Xaver and even Antonio Salieri, whom popular culture has long cast as the villain. The festival is a joint effort of the Philharmonic, Open Opera Ukraine and the National House of Music.

What to hear: evenings worth planning a trip around

Perhaps the most unusual evening falls on 14 November at 18:00, when Benjamin Bagby and Norbert Rodenkirchen of the Sequentia ensemble perform "Medieval Fragments" (Serednovichni frahmenty) from the 9th–11th centuries — music more than a thousand years old. The next day at 12:00, the same duo will talk about how the Middle Ages sounded and how that music is brought back to life today. Then at 18:00, flautist Jan De Winne plays Mozart on a 1780 Grenser flute together with soloists of the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra.

For a contemporary take, head to the 16 November programme "Mozart, Freemasons, Clavier" (Motsart, masony, klavir), in which pianist Oleksandr Chornyi performs alongside electronics and Ambisonics spatial sound. On the 19th at 18:00, Sofiia Soloviy and Solomiia Pavlenko sing "Soprano Passions" (Sopranovi prystrasti) with the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nataliia Stets. On 20 November at 18:00, harpsichordist Nataliia Fomenko and violinist Serhii Havryliuk play "Radicality of Light: like meantone" (Radykalnist svitla: like meantone), and on the 21st the Bozhychi ensemble and the Partes vocal ensemble of Open Opera Ukraine present "Dialogues of Adam and Eve" (Dialohy Adama i Yevy).

The festival closes on 22 November at 18:00 with "REQUIEM" by contemporary Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas, which weaves in fragments of Mozart's own Requiem. It is performed by the Philharmonic's Academic Symphony Orchestra and the Kyiv Chamber Choir, conducted by Nataliia Ponomarchuk.

Between concerts there are talks that slot easily into a stroll around the city centre. On 18 November at 16:00, for example, Halia Hlodz offers a short history of Ukrainian vampires (upyri), and on the 20th at 16:00 Anna Hadetska and Oleksandr Ostrovskyi discuss Mozart in film.

Tickets, venues and what to see nearby

Tickets are sold on philarmonia.com.ua and at the Philharmonic box office: daily from 12:00 to 19:30, with a break from 15:00 to 15:30. Information line: (044) 278-57-74. Evening concerts take place in the Mykola Lysenko Column Hall. The Philharmonic warns that the programme may change due to the security situation, so it's worth checking the website before you head out.

The Philharmonic stands at the top of Volodymyrskyi Descent, a few minutes' walk from Maidan Nezalezhnosti metro station. Before the concert, you can wander down the Descent to Poshtova Square and the funicular, climb up to St Michael's Cathedral or take a stroll along Khreshchatyk.

Sources: National Philharmonic of Ukraine — Kyiv Baroque Fest 2026; NPU — REQUIEM: Haas; NPU — "Radicality of Light"; KP.UA.

Photos: National Philharmonic of Ukraine (cover, posters, Column Hall); Oksana Savinova, Oleksandr Brovko / Unsplash; Viatel Studio (St Michael's Cathedral).