For choir and solo cello.
Choral arrangement of Natalia Tsupryk’s Kyiv (2022) for cello and electronics, based on the sound of air raid sirens recorded by Natalia in the capital of Ukraine on 24 August, Ukraine's Independence Day.
Commissioned by Kim and Ed Shiley, The Crossing and Donald Nally.
Premiered by The Crossing and Tommy Mesa (cello) at The Crossing @ Christmas 2025
December 19, 2025 – St. Mark’s Church, Philadelphia
December 20, 2025 – St. Peter’s Church, New York City
December 21, 2025 – Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia
Additional performance June 27 and June 28, 2026 in Philadelphia for The Month of Moderns, presented by ArtPhilly.
On the arrangement:
“I sought to capture the unsettling stillness of Natalia's original work; voices drone, whisper, quake, pulse and eventually wail. Against this tense atmosphere the solo cello embodies the radiant fullness of the human spirit – its anxiety, perseverance, and sorrow – in the face of prolonged assault and an uncertain future. It is our attempt as Philadelphians to understand, through singing, the edgy anticipation felt by our fellow Ukrainians each not-so-silent night.”
“Kevin Vondrak gave Kyiv by Ukrainian composer and violinist Tsupryk a wordless choral arrangement. The work has no score, existing only in electronic form, and Vondrak transcribed its cinematic sound world to feature Mesa with supporting singers… [crafting] the haunting chorus part to evoke the (imperceptible at first) droning of the air raid sirens that the composer employed.” – Broad Street Review