On June 25, 2026, a concert “Ukrainian Love” will take place in Beer Sheva: Ukrainian folk songs in symphonic sound will be performed by the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva.
“Ukrainian Love” in Beer Sheva: Ukrainian songs will be performed in a symphonic arrangement
On June 25, 2026, a concert “Ukrainian Love” will take place in Beer Sheva — an evening of Ukrainian music performed by soloists and the orchestra of the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva. The concert will be held at the Beer Sheva Performing Arts Center, starting at 19:30. In the official calendar of the Israel Symphony Orchestra, the event is listed as Ukrainian Love, venue — 41 Reger St., Performing Arts Center Beer Sheva.
Tickets: https://isb7.smarticket.co.il/הקול_על_הבמה_מס__4_-_אהבה_אוקראינית
The name of the concert in Hebrew is אהבה אוקראינית, which means “Ukrainian Love”. This is a program where Ukrainian folk songs take the big Israeli stage in orchestral sound — with soloists, a conductor, and a professional chamber symphony orchestra.
The organizers describe the concert as follows
The organizers describe the concert as follows:
“From the very heart of Ukraine — an evening of music that resonates with the soul of the people. Love and separation, bright sadness and hope, tenderness and humor — all the richness of the Ukrainian song tradition will come alive in the performance of soloists and the orchestra of the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva under the direction of Maestro Konstantin Orbelian”.
In the description of the concert, the Ukrainian folk song is presented as a living history that is carefully passed down from generation to generation. These melodies resonate with the beauty of Ukrainian land, the warmth of the home hearth, the strength of the human spirit, and faith in the future. Simple and sincere songs have long become part of the world’s cultural heritage and continue to resonate with listeners far beyond Ukraine.
On this evening, beloved Ukrainian songs will be performed in a symphonic arrangement. This format combines folk tradition and the beauty of orchestral music: familiar melodies gain new stage life while retaining their warmth, memory, and human intonation.
What is the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva
The Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva is a professional chamber symphony orchestra from Beer Sheva. The word “symphony orchestra” usually means an orchestra of a smaller composition than a large philharmonic, but with full professional sound.
For the concert “Ukrainian Love”, this is important: Ukrainian songs will not sound like a chamber home program or a folklore evening in the narrow sense, but as a full-fledged stage event — with an orchestra, vocal soloists, and a conductor.
In the 2025/26 season, Maestro Konstantin Orbelian became the musical director of the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva. The announcement of his appointment noted that he replaces Maestro Rani Calderon after the end of the season in August 2025.
Who is performing
The concert “Ukrainian Love” features a conductor, two vocal soloists, and the orchestra of the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva.
Konstantin Orbelian — conductor
Konstantin Orbelian is a conductor and pianist of international standing. In the publication about his appointment as the musical director of the Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva, he is presented as a four-time Grammy-nominated conductor, one of the prominent musicians on the international stage. It also states that Orbelian is the general and artistic director of the New York City Opera, as well as the principal conductor of the Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra in Lithuania.
His creative biography includes work with major artists of the world stage, including Renée Fleming, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Elīna Garanča, Jonas Kaufmann, and other performers. It is also reported that his discography includes more than 80 CDs on the DELOS label, and he was previously the musical director of the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and the head of the Yerevan Opera and Ballet Theatre.
For the concert of Ukrainian music, his participation sets a high professional level: he is not just a guest conductor, but the new musical director of the orchestra, opening a new stage for the Symphony Orchestra.
Veronika Brook — soprano
Veronika Brook is a soprano, an opera singer associated with the Israeli and Ukrainian music scene. According to the Israel Opera, she was born in Estonia, lived and studied in Ukraine, and then repatriated to Israel. She graduated from the Luhansk National Academy of Culture and Arts and was a member of the troupe of the Dnipropetrovsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ukraine.
Her opera repertoire includes Gilda in “Rigoletto”, Violetta in “La Traviata”, Queen of the Night in “The Magic Flute”, Olympia in “The Tales of Hoffmann”, and other roles. The Israel Opera also notes that Veronika Brook was a participant in the Meitar Opera Studio program and performs in concerts of the Israel Opera and with Israeli orchestras.
In the context of the concert “Ukrainian Love”, her participation is especially natural: she is a singer whose biography combines the Ukrainian music school, the Israeli stage, and the opera tradition.
Konstantin Rittel-Kobyliansky — baritone
Konstantin Rittel-Kobyliansky is a Ukrainian baritone born in Kyiv. According to his artistic profile CODA, he graduated from the Odessa Music Academy in 2000 and completed additional solo training at the Freiburg Music Academy with honors in 2003.
His career includes performances on various European and international stages. The profile lists cities and venues, including Strasbourg, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Marseille, Moscow, Kyiv, St. Petersburg, Chicago, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Lviv National Opera, and others.
Rittel-Kobyliansky is also known as a concert performer: in addition to opera roles and classical music, his repertoire includes well-known European and American songs. For the evening of Ukrainian music, his participation adds a deep male vocal timbre and a connection to the Ukrainian opera school.
Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva — orchestra
The Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva will perform Ukrainian songs in orchestral sound. For the listener, this means that familiar motifs will be presented not only as a song tradition but also as a concert program with symphonic dramaturgy: with introductions, orchestral colors, vocal parts, and a large stage breath.
It is the orchestra that makes this evening not just a vocal concert, but a full-fledged cultural event of Beer Sheva and the south of Israel.
Why this concert is important
“Ukrainian Love” is not just a musical program. For many residents of Israel, the Ukrainian song is associated with family memory, childhood, native cities, the language of home, the voices of parents and grandparents, with that cultural layer that people bring with them and preserve in a new country.
For the Israeli stage, such a concert is an opportunity to hear Ukraine not through news, not through political headlines, and not through the pain of war, but through music: through love, separation, humor, tenderness, and hope. This is how the Ukrainian song tradition becomes understandable and close even to those who do not know the language.
In Beer Sheva, a city with a large repatriate history and a special cultural life in the south of Israel, such an evening can become a meeting of different generations and different audiences. Some will come for the Ukrainian song, others for the classical sound of the Symphony Orchestra, and others for the names of the performers. But at the center, there will still be music.
For whom this evening is
The concert “Ukrainian Love” may be of interest to those who love Ukrainian music, opera singing, and symphonic sound. This event is also suitable for families of Ukrainian origin, listeners from Beer Sheva and the south of Israel, lovers of classical concerts, and those who want to discover Ukrainian culture through the stage, voice, and orchestra.
This is not a narrow ethnic program and not just an evening of nostalgia. It is a concert about how a folk song becomes part of the big stage — preserving simplicity, sincerity, and emotional strength.
Concert information
Concert: “Ukrainian Love”
Original title: Ukrainian Love / אהבה אוקראינית
Date: June 25, 2026, Thursday
Time: 19:30
Venue: Beer Sheva Performing Arts Center, Hall 1
Address: 41 Reger St., Performing Arts Center Beer Sheva
Orchestra: Israel Symphony Orchestra of Beer Sheva
Conductor: Konstantin Orbelian
Soloists: Veronika Brook, soprano; Konstantin Rittel-Kobyliansky, baritone
“The Ukrainian folk song is a living history, carefully passed down from generation to
generation.Its melodies resonate with the beauty of the native land, the warmth of the home hearth, the strength
of the human spirit, and faith in the future. Simple and sincere, these songs have long become part of
the world’s cultural heritage and continue to resonate in the hearts of listeners around the
world.On this evening, beloved Ukrainian songs will be performed on stage in a symphonic arrangement,
combining folk tradition and the beauty of orchestral music.”
Tickets: https://isb7.smarticket.co.il/הקול_על_הבמה_מס__4_-_אהבה_אוקראינית
“Ukrainian Love” is an evening where the Ukrainian song will be heard on the Israeli stage in a language that is understood without translation: through melody, voice, memory, tenderness, and hope.