Concerts of excellence
Concerto per la Pace – Concert for Peace
Maria Stella Maurizi
Freya Apffelstaedt
Salvador Villanueva
Lobel Barun
Ascona Festival Choir with the Participation of the Tenebrae Choir
Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Oksana Lyniv

Date
Saturday, 10.10
Hours 19:30
Location
Chiesa San Francesco, Locarno
Piazza San Francesco 19, 6600 Locarno
Price categories
CHF 85 / 70 / 55 / 40
Recital for Chamber Orchestra and Piano
Concert information
The Ascona Choral Academy’s joint concert with London’s Tenebrae Choir and the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine serves as a bright closing mark, symbolizing peaceful coexistence, at the end of the 2026 festival and the first edition of the classicAscona academy.
In 2016, Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv founded the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine to support young talent from across the country. During wartime, the orchestra became an international ambassador for Ukrainian cultural identity and has been wowing audiences at concerts throughout Europe ever since.
Ukrainian composer Hanna Havrylets died in Kyiv on Feb. 27, 2022, three days after the Russian invasion began, from a lack of proper medical care. Her “Canticum” for strings resonates like a wordless prayer, marked by deep melancholy yet unwavering inner strength.
The genesis of Antonín Dvořák’s “Stabat Mater,” Op. 58, is inseparable from the harsh blows of fate. During its composition, Dvořák lost three children. In that time of sorrow, he found in the medieval sequence about the Mother of God’s suffering at the foot of the cross a way to give voice to his own sadness. Rather than remaining in despair, the music moves from the somber si minor to a hopeful finale, becoming a symbol of the strength of faith and the overcoming of death.
Program
Maria Stella Maurizi, Soprano
Freya Apffelstaedt, Contralto
Tomislav Jukic, Tenor
Lobel Barun, Bass
classicAscona Festival Choir
[and participation of Tenebrae Choir]
(Nigel Short, rehearsals)
Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
Oksana Lyniv, Conductor
Hanna Havrylet (1958-2022)
“Canticum” for String Orchestra
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
“Stabat Mater” for Soloists, Choir, and Orchestra op. 58
Duration: 120′ (without interruption)
The Artists

Maria Stella Maurizi
Soprano

Freya Apffelstaedt
Contralto

Salvador Villanueva
Tenor

Lobel Barun
Bass
Ascona Festival Choir with the Participation of the Tenebrae Choir

Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
The Youth Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine was founded in 2016, on the initiative of Oksana Lyniv and with support from the Beethovenfest Bonn and the Bundesjugendorchester. Since April 2023, it has been under the patronage of the Berliner Philharmoniker. The ensemble brings together talented musicians ages 12 to 25 and has performed at venues including the Konzerthaus Berlin, BOZAR, the Lucerne Festival, and the Beethovenfest Bonn.

Oksana Lyniv
Conductor
In 2021, Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv became the first woman to head the Bayreuther Festspiele. In 2022, she became the first female chief conductor to lead an Italian opera house, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. In 2024, she made her debut as the first Ukrainian conductor at the Metropolitan Opera. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Lyniv has become an important artistic voice for her country on the international stage.
Venue information: Chiesa San Francesco, Locarno
Chiesa San Francesco in Locarno, dating back to the 13th century, is more than a historical monument: it is a living sounding board where history, art, and music converge. It is one of classicAscona’s most fascinating venues and offers a worthy setting for orchestral and choral concerts. The special features of this monument of sacred art are the 18th-century frescoes by the Locarnese Orelli family of painters and the wooden choir, carved in 1522.
After significant restoration, the church now glows as a cultural center, welcoming all with its renewed brilliance. Its last complete interior restoration, finished in 2012, ensures every visitor can experience its historical beauty.

Concerto per la Pace – Concert for Peace
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