Day: April 28, 2022

Edinburgh to welcome the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra in August

In a gesture of solidarity with the victims of the war in Ukraine, Edinburgh International Festival is partnering with the Scottish Government to welcome the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra for a historic free concert at the Usher Hall on Saturday 6 August 2022 at 2pm.

Marking the orchestra’s only performance in Scotland, this concert is part of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra’s European and USA tour in artistic defence of its country.

Edinburgh is twinned with the city of Kyiv, and this special collaboration between the International Festival and the Scottish Government is in support of the city’s Ukrainian community and those directly affected by the war.

The special concert will see invitations extended to the Ukrainian community in Scotland and organisations leading efforts in the resettlement of Ukrainian refugees, as well as those supporting people impacted by the conflict.

Assembled by New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra includes recent refugees, Ukrainian members of European orchestras and leading Ukrainian musicians and performers.

The Ukraine Ministry of Culture is granting a special exemption to military-age, male members of orchestras inside the country to participate, allowing them to put down weapons and take up their instruments in a demonstration of the power of art over adversity.

Under the leadership of Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, the orchestra’s repertoire includes Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s Seventh Symphony; Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Ukrainian virtuoso Anna Fedorova; and leading Ukrainian soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska performing an aria from Verdi’s Aida.

Seventy-five years after Rudolf Bing, himself a refugee, co-founded the Edinburgh International Festival, the 2022 programme reflects the organisation’s rich history of promoting unity and healing through cultural collaboration.

The 2022 Festival includes a lecture on the importance of the arts and culture from Peter Gelb, General Manager of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, presented in association with Edinburgh Jewish Cultural Centre in memory of Rudolf Bing.

The 2022 International Festival also features Refuge, a season of contemporary theatre, dance, visual art, film and conversation created to explore themes of refugeehood, migration, identity and inclusion.

Free tickets for the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra’s concert at the Usher Hall will be available to book online from late June 2022, with further information to follow.

Fergus Linehan, Festival Director of the Edinburgh International Festival said, “The staff and board of the Festival are honoured to be given the opportunity to welcome our colleagues from Ukraine and offer them our support and solidarity at this time.”

Neil Gray, Minister for Culture and Refugees from Ukraine said: “The Scottish Government is delighted to provide the support to enable the Ukraine Freedom Orchestra of more than 70 displaced Ukrainian professional musicians to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival in August.

“The Edinburgh International Festival was first created to bring together Europeans suffering in the shadow of war, and as the festival celebrates its 75th anniversary it has never been more appropriate to underline its founding principles of peace, collaboration and solidarity.

“Scotland has responded to the present crisis by offering a warm welcome to those Ukrainians fleeing the brutal invasion of their country – and we offer the same warm welcome to these wonderful musicians. I am sure this historic free concert will be one of the highlights of this year’s cultural celebrations in Edinburgh.”

Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukrainian Minister of Culture said: “Today, culture is showing a completely new side. It can also be the ‘soft power’ that helps heal wounds.

“Ukrainian culture is original and deserves to be at the centre of attention abroad. We thank our international colleagues for producing the tour.”

COVID: End of the Highest Risk List

List to close on 31 May

The Highest Risk List – formerly known as the Shielding List – will be formally ended on 31 May, as a result of the success of the vaccination programme and the introduction of new treatments for COVID-19.

The decision has been taken following a careful review of growing clinical evidence by a team of specialist clinicians.

It shows that, for the vast majority of those on the list, the risk of hospitalisation or death from COVID-19 has been significantly reduced and is no greater than that of the general public.

For some time now, the clinical advice has been for those on the Highest Risk List to follow the same guidance as everyone else in Scotland unless specifically advised otherwise by their own GP or clinician.

The list is not being used to identify people who are eligible for vaccine prioritisation or new treatments, and the NHS will continue to be able to contact those people when needed.

Support remains in place for those who are immunosuppressed and who may still have some reduced immunity. This group are likely to need general protection from a range of infections in addition to Covid-19.

Wellbeing support is also available for those on the List, and the Scottish Government has allocated an additional £120,000 to the British Red Cross to fund their Connecting With You service to help people reconnect with activities and friends, to rebuild their confidence in going out and to help them regain a better quality of life.

The Distance Aware Scheme is in place to provide free badges and lanyards to people who wish to show others they would welcome additional space and extra care while out in public.

The Chief Medical Officer will shortly write to everyone on the list to advise them of the change, and sign-post them to ongoing support.

Dr John Harden, Deputy National Clinical Director, said: “At the beginning of the pandemic we introduced shielding to protect the most vulnerable from a virus we knew little about. Clearly shielding did not come without impact, particularly for those who were socially isolated or feeling particularly anxious due to being labelled at ‘highest risk’.

“In March 2020, we used the information we had at that point to identify those with certain health conditions who we reasonably thought would be at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19.

“Thankfully, we know a lot more about the virus now. Combined with our successful vaccination programme and the availability of new treatments, means the clinical evidence clearly shows that the vast majority of people who have been on the Highest Risk List no longer need to consider themselves at any significantly higher risk.

“Support is still in place for the small number of immunosuppressed people who are unable to mount a full immune response due to their condition or ongoing treatment. We will publish separate advice for this group and have put in place an identification process to be able to rapidly generate an accurate and current list of individuals to provide additional advice to, should it be needed in future.”

The Scottish Government has produced guidance for immunosuppressed people and guidance for people previously at higher risk . An  evidence review was used to support the ending of the List.

Public Health Scotland reports from January 2021 and March 2022 both highlighted the negative impact of shielding on those asked to do so.

The Distance Aware scheme was launched by Wales’ health and care think tank The Bevan Commission in August 2020. The Scottish Government invested £55,500 in developing the scheme for a Scottish audience, including procuring and distributing badges, lanyards and promoting the scheme.

The Scottish Government is asking organisations, businesses and employers to promote this to their staff, customers and members. A toolkit is available to provide further support and information.