The first new Stankovych symphony in 15 years — dedicated to veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Premiere 12 June 2026.
Lviv National Philharmonic named after Myroslav Skoryk hosts the world premiere of Yevhen Stankovych's new Symphony No. 5 'Sun Over the Trenches' on 12 June 2026. This is the first new symphony by the composer in 15 years (the previous one — No. 4 'Cruel Mornings', 2011) and an official dedication to veterans of the war. Performer — Lviv Academic Symphony Orchestra under Volodymyr Sirenko. The symphony consists of 4 movements with a total duration of 52 minutes: I. 'Dawn: Prayer' (piano, strings, winds); II. 'Explosion: Alarm' (full orchestra + percussion); III. 'Vineyard: Memory' (chamber ensemble, bandura solo); IV. 'Sun: Return'. Stankovych started composition in November 2022 after meeting veterans at the Irpin rehabilitation centre; completed in December 2025. The programme also performs the string quartet 'Triptych 2022' (written in March 2022 during the evacuation from Kyiv) performed by the Strings-Kyiv quartet. The concert opens a series of 6 Symphony No. 5 performances in Ukrainian regional philharmonics throughout summer 2026: Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Ternopil, Uzhhorod. The premiere recording will be included in a new monographic ECM Records album in 2027.
