On stage were folk dances and music, pop music, and love songs. The Kyrgyz National Conservatory in partnership with the Roza Otunbayeva Initiative presented the concert celebrating Ukrainian song, dance, and clothing. “The concert will be a long one even though we have reduced the program. But it will be very interesting,” promised Svetlana Lundgren, wife of German Ambassador Anders Lundgren and opener of the concert. The concert was indeed very rich and informative. It began with a performance by honored Kyrgyz artist, conductor and artistic director of the “Manas” presidential chamber orchestra, Ernis Asanaliev. He sang a song by artist of the Ukrainian people Skoryk, which he dedicated to all Ukrainians. In bright Ukrainian costumes, the “Vinca” and “Vechornitsy” ensembles performed “Happy New Year and Merry Christmas” on stage. It turned out to be a demonstration of the Ukrainian “kute,” or an element of the Ukrainian feast table. The delicacy is made from wheat, covered in honey, nuts, raisins, and poppy seeds. It was believed that the more grain in the kute, the more ancestors would attend the festival. As per tradition, the performers shouted words of congratulations and scattered grain on stage. Next, the audience played a game of guessing whether an instrument played by musician Marija Naumo was Kyrgyz or Ukrainian. Although Kyrgyz and Ukrainian cultures are far enough separated, there are similarities between their instruments: drymba/temir, komuz/ocarina, chopo/choor, and pipe/chor. Mr. Naumo also tested the audience in the Ukrainian language. On stage were folk dances, music, pop and love songs. The audience applauded especially loudly for the song “Raspryagaitye, xloptsa, koni!” by a group from Chui called “Ak-ak Suunun Elechigi Aiymdary”. As President of the Assembly Bektemir Murzubraimov rightly pointed out in his speech that evening, the Ukrainians are a most musical people. UNESCO has registered 15,500 Ukrainian folk songs – more than any other nation. The total number of Ukrainian songs is somewhere around 300,000. Murzumbraimov stressed that even though it has been 150 years since Ukrainians migrated to the Kyrgyz land, they have managed to preserve their language and common traits of the Ukrainian national character: Hospitality, kindness, and sense of humor. According concert co-host and Chairman of the Beregynia Ukrainian society, Vladimir Narozi, the concert was planned long before current events in the Ukraine. “The Ukraine is experiencing hard times,” he stated, “but the concert was scheduled in late November, before the Maidan, and we decided the date of the meeting in December.” “Today, all my friends performed. Notice that not only Ukrainians, but also Kyrgyz and Russian sang Ukrainian songs and danced the gopak. This suggests that Ukrainian culture is attractive to many people. Through the support of Roza Otunbayeva, we’ve achieved a new level of quality [in our performing arts],” Narozi added. The concert hall was full. In addition to ex-president Otunbayeva, the concert was honored by the presence of U.S. Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, Pamela Spratlen, the British Ambassador in Kyrgyzstan, Judith Farnworth, as well as representatives of the Aga Khan Foundation and the OSCE. Anastasia Khodykina Translation by Aaron Mead-Long