The Refugee Orchestra Project shares music by composers who were forced to leave their homelands — as they express these life-altering experiences through music and storytelling. Imaginary Peace: Sounds of Migration brings together works by Mary Kouyoumdjian, Gabriela Ortiz, Wang Lu, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Ljova, Arson Fahim, Zoltan Almashi, and Milad Yousufi — Armenian, Afghan, Ukrainian, Mexican-American, Haitian-American, and Russian-American voices, each carrying a different story of displacement, resilience, and the complicated grace of building a life somewhere new.

Among the performers is Four Hands Collective community artist Valeriya Sholokhova — Ukrainian-American cellist, Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music graduate, founder of the Ukrainian Music Initiative and Trio Fadolín, and principal cellist of the Refugee Orchestra Project itself. Valeriya has performed at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center, David Geffen Hall, and Saturday Night Live, and has graced the Night at the Triad stage with a courage and vulnerability that has moved our audiences deeply every time.

This concert is conducted by Lidiya Yankovskaya, Artistic Director of the Refugee Orchestra Project.

This is not background music. This is the gift of music doing what only music can do — carrying what words cannot hold, crossing the distances that divide us, and finding in shared listening a form of peace that politics cannot provide.

📅 Thursday, March 13, 2026 🎵 Doors 6:30pm · Show 7:30pm 📍 National Sawdust · Brooklyn, NYC

Conductor & Artistic Director: Lidiya Yankovskaya Vocal Soloists: Inna Barmash, Zhanna Alkhazova Flute: Ann Urrey · Oboe: Slava Znatchenii · Clarinet: Kristina Teuschler Bassoon: Adrian Morejon · Horn: Audrey Flores · Piano: Eliot Goldmund Harp: Parker Ramsay · Percussion: Sae Hashimoto Violins: Gökçe Erem, Andy Didorenko, Sunjay Jayaram, Sabina Torosjan, Masha Polishchuk Viola: Ljova Zhurbin, Mario Gotoh Cello: Valeriya Sholokhova, Chris Cortez Bass: Pedro Giraudo