On the eve of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Museum of Kyiv History, together with the Leontovych Institute, presented the exhibition project “The Christmas Flight of Shchedryk” — a space where history, art, and cultural memory merge into a single, holistic Christmas narrative.
How did the legendary Ukrainian melody Shchedryk become a global Christmas symbol, and why is its story much deeper than it may seem? The exhibition presents Shchedryk as a global cultural phenomenon — from archaic ritual chants to the world-famous Christmas hit Carol of the Bells. This is the story not only of a musical composition, but of an entire country — the melody resonated around the world on behalf of Ukraine even in times of lost statehood. The figures of composer Mykola Leontovych and conductor Oleksandr Koshyts appear in the exhibition as guides who led this melody to international recognition. Today, the entire artistic world marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Oleksandr Koshyts — composer, conductor, and cultural diplomat of Ukraine. It was thanks to the Ukrainian Republican Capella under his direction that Shchedryk was first performed at Carnegie Hall in 1922 and became part of the global Christmas tradition.
“The idea of the project The Christmas Flight of Shchedryk is to reveal the secrets of this Ukrainian melody built on the legendary four notes — to show its depth and multilayered nature and to highlight the vast cultural strata that preceded its emergence. At the same time, this exhibition is about the strength and importance of Ukrainian culture, which — just as a hundred years ago — remains our voice to the world. The story of Shchedryk’s triumph worldwide is a textbook example of cultural diplomacy that continues to inspire and support us in the struggle for our identity. In November 2025, Kyiv became a UNESCO City of Music, so this project symbolically resonates with this new status — let us be proud, explore, and make music despite all the enemy’s attempts to take away the light and warmth of the Christmas holidays,” notes Viktoriia Mukha, Director General of the Museum of Kyiv History.
“Shchedryk” is a song of resistance, a song of hope of the Ukrainian people — 100 years ago and today. When more than a century ago Ukraine restored its statehood and was immediately forced to defend itself against the armies of the northern aggressor, Head of State Symon Petliura sent abroad the choir of Oleksandr Koshyts — so that through song he could proclaim to the world the Ukrainian people’s right to independence. Oleksandr Koshyts fulfilled his mission one hundred percent, and Ukraine was spoken about on all continents. Our exhibition honors the feat of the Ukrainian Maestro, whose 150th anniversary of birth we mark this year. The project is also about the creative genius and resilience of Mykola Leontovych, who created his choral masterpiece in Podillia and, remaining under occupation after Oleksandr Koshyts’s choir departed on its world tour, worked until the very end for the good of the Ukrainian people. The exhibition also reminds us of the political wisdom of Symon Petliura, an art-loving commander-in-chief who, at a decisive moment in the struggle for Ukrainian statehood, invested in the power of Ukrainian culture — and won. Ukraine has remained forever in the world’s cultural heritage, which is now being defended by a new generation of fighters for independence. Shchedryk is about victory. So we believe in Ukraine’s victory!” — emphasizes Tina Peresunko, founder of the Leontovych Institute, researcher, and co-curator of the exhibition project.
The exhibition display is conceived as a journey through six thematic spaces — beginning with the pre-Christian “Voice of the Sun,” moving on to the symbolic “Cave of Christmas,” then unfolding in halls that recreate Kyiv’s artistic environment and the historical and political context of the early 20th century, and concluding with narratives about the tours of Oleksandr Koshyts’s Capella and the formation of the global history of Carol of the Bells. The exhibition The Christmas Flight of Shchedryk at the Museum of Kyiv History will traditionally become part of Kyiv’s Christmas cultural and informational space — an event in which one Ukrainian melody continues its flight from generation to generation.
Project Manager: Kateryna Borovyk
Art Design: Kateryna Nediak
Project Co-organizer: Leontovych Institute
Project Partners: Central State Archives of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine; V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine; Kyiv Academic Drama Theatre on Podil; Museum of Outstanding Figures of Ukrainian Culture; Ukrainian Culture and Education Centre (Winnipeg, Canada); R. M. Glière Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music; Academic Theatre “Kyiv Modern-Ballet”; NGO Ukraine WOW; Maryna Lukianova; Fedir Zernetskyi; Khrystyna Haidamaka; Oksana Berdnyk; Iryna Bilai; TM “Christmas Stories”;