YOUNG SINGERS FROM UKRAINE AND NEW YORK UNITE FOR “UNBREAKABLE HARMONY,” CULMINATING AT CARNEGIE HALL
Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir and Westchester Children’s Chorus will come together for a week of music, cultural exchange and friendship, beginning with a November 1 fundraising concert at Manhattanville University
WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y. — This November, young singers from Ukraine and the United States will come together for an extraordinary week of music, cultural exchange and friendship that will take them from Westchester County to the stage of Carnegie Hall.
The Westchester Children’s Chorus will welcome the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir of Ukraine for UNBREAKABLE HARMONY: Voices of Youth and Hope, a weeklong collaboration bringing the two youth ensembles together to rehearse, perform, share their cultures and build connections through music.
“At the Westchester Children’s Chorus, our mission is to engage young voices and inspire our community through the power of singing together. Through music, we build bridges across culture and discover our shared humanity. I want our young musicians to use their voices to reach far beyond the concert stage.
Unbreakable Harmony, a dream nearly two years in the making, brings that mission to life. This extraordinary collaboration will elevate our young musicians’ artistry while inspiring them to become compassionate global citizens.
Music teaches us that dissonance is not the absence of beauty, but an opportunity for resolution. In a world often divided by discord, we can choose to create harmony.”- Amanda Gundling, 2026
The collaboration begins on Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 pm, with a special fundraising concert at O’Byrne Chapel at Manhattanville University. The community performance will officially welcome the Ukrainian singers to New York and launch a week of joint rehearsals, cultural activities, shared meals, and musical experiences.
Proceeds from the November 1 concert will help support the Ukrainian choir’s visit and the collaborative experiences planned throughout the week, including travel, transportation, rehearsals, cultural programming, and performance-related expenses.
The week will culminate at 7:30 pm, on Friday, November 6, when the two choirs take the stage at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall for the UNBREAKABLE HARMONY Gala Concert.
By then, the singers will have spent nearly a week learning from one another, not simply preparing for a performance, but developing relationships across languages, traditions, and thousands of miles.
The Carnegie Hall program will celebrate both Ukrainian and American musical traditions, with each choir performing selections from its own repertoire before joining together in song.
Among the evening’s most significant moments will be a joint performance of “Shchedryk” (Carol of the Bells) in its original Ukrainian.
At the heart of UNBREAKABLE HARMONY is a simple but powerful idea: when young people come together to listen, learn, and create, music can build connections that transcend borders.
EVENTS
UNBREAKABLE HARMONY — Opening Fundraising Concert
Sunday, November 1, 2026 | 2:00 pm
O’Byrne Chapel | Manhattanville University
A community concert welcoming the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir and supporting the weeklong Ukrainian-American musical and cultural exchange.
UNBREAKABLE HARMONY — Gala Concert
Friday, November 6, 2026
Zankel Hall | Carnegie Hall | 7:30 pm
The culminating performance featuring the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir and Westchester Children’s Chorus.
For more information, please contact agundling@wcchorus.org OR irenaportenko@gmail.com.