On Saturday, Sept. 17, baritone Ilya Silchukou returned to the stage after nearly two years.

The baritone performed in Boston in a recital and is set to continue his recital tour on Sept. 24 in New Jersey.

In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, the baritone noted that it took him two years to get his wife and children out of Belarus after opposing the war. He and his family eventually moved to Boston.

During his career in Belarus, he was a principal soloist and a star of the Bolshoi Theater in Minsk, Belarus. He would appear the Belarussian press and on national TV and was considered a national treasure.

When Belorussian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko crushed a demonstration on the street of Minsk, Silchukou spoke in support of democracy and recorded a clip with the national prayer “God the Almighty.” He was later fired.

The Sept. 24 recital is set to showcase music by Rossini, Mozart, Mahler, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky.