Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson has been named to the position of music director of the Kyiv Camerata.

She makes history as only the second music director in the organization’s 50-year history. The only other music director was Valery Matyukhin, who established the ensemble in 1977 and led it until his death in 2023. The ensemble has championed and commissioned Ukrainian works by such composers as Valentin Sylvestrov, Yevgeny Stankovych, and Myroslav Skoryck.

“We chose Keri-Lynn because of her musical strengths and her commitment to Ukrainian contemporary music,” said Bohdana Pivnenko, the orchestra’s General and Artistic Director, per an official press release. “In Ukraine, she is now regarded as one of our cultural heroes.”

“The musicians of Ukraine are the artistic soul of this brave country, fighting for its future,” added Wilson. “It’s my duty to do all I can to help defend them in their struggle for freedom.”

In her new position, Wilson will lead the orchestra in performances in both Ukraine and abroad. She will led a performance in early October at the annual contemporary music festival in Kyiv and a combined concert with the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Kyiv on Nov. 23, 2024 to honor the millions of victims of Stalin’s purges. Wilson will also give performances in Ukraine in early summer of 2025 and in Berlin in April 2025.

Wilson founded the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.