The Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine received a letter from Peter Campbell-Kelly, the leading violinist of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a teacher at the Royal Birmingham Conservatory, expressing support for the people of Ukraine in connection with the intense aggression of russia and the terrible tragedies of Ukrainians. Along with the letter, the British musician sent a short film in which he performs the Mysterious Sonata No. 16 “Passacaglia” for solo violin by 17th-century Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.

“I would like to offer you this piece as a musical prayer for the well-being and continued strength of you all, fighting and protecting your dear people as heroes in this war,” the letter says. Peter Campbell-Kelly accompanies his musical prayer-message with a poem of his own authorship, which is dominated by moods of sadness, grief, and mourning for the dead. “We in the UK are with you and admire you so very much… we send all our love and best wishes…” the musician writes and ends his letter with the exclamation “Glory to Ukraine!”
The staff of the Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine is sincerely grateful to British citizen Peter Campbell-Kelly for his empathy, expression of solidarity, and artistic support for Ukraine through his own creative work!