 This is a wonderful photo and article from today's New York Times. In this performance, one of the violinists was conducting, as all the company's conductors, and many others, have fled because of the violence.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/05/world/europe/cultural-life-goes-on-in-donetsk-war-permitting.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0 It reminds me of the quote from Leonard Bernstein that many of us know, the one that begins, "This will be our reply to violence..." Here is a longer excerpt of that famous quotation, which was offered at a memorial concert given on November 24th, 1963, organized by Bernstein to honor his friend, John F. Kennedy, who had been assassinated just two days before. "We musicians, like everyone else, are numb with sorrow at this murder, and with rage at the senselessness of the crime. But this sorrow and rage will not inflame us to seek retribution; rather they will inflame our art. Our music will never again be quite the same. This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before. And with each note we will honor the spirit of John Kennedy, commemorate his courage, and reaffirm his faith in the Triumph of the Mind." Let's keep singing, and by all means, send our thoughts and prayers to our colleagues in Ukraine.
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