Ukrainian music performed at fundraiser in Glen Cove

The melodies and lyrics of classic Ukrainian music were heard through the halls of the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County in Glen Cove on Sunday as it hosted a fundraiser and concert for peace in Ukraine.

Glen Cove resident Gigi Ferrante, who organized the event, said she was inspired to arrange the concert after watching her daughter, Paloma Ferrante, perform at a recent event at the Hebrew Union College in Manhattan.

“I lost a lot of sleep because of what is going on in Ukraine and I said I might as well do something to maybe impact somebody,” Ferrante told Newsday. “I’m a little person, but if I could touch a few hearts.”

The concert, which was sold out, had about 100 people in attendance. Ferrante said within eight days the concert organizers  raised about $30,000, which will go to United Ukrainian American Relief Committee, a nonprofit founded in 1944 that provides humanitarian aid to Ukrainians in Ukraine, as well as other European and South American countries.

"History reminds us that we must never let past injustices repeat themselves, unfortunately today we are witnessing this very thing — the killing of innocent people for geopolitical gain," Ferrante said.

Along with Ferrante’s daughter, Paloma, who played the cello, classical pianist Pavel Gintov and Ukrainian singer Hanna Golodinskii performed classical Ukrainian and Jewish songs.

Before her performance, Golodinskii — who said her parents are currently in Kyiv, Ukraine — said public figures like herself must use their voices to inform people about the war in Ukraine and “save the nation.”

“We have voices and we must use our voices to deliver music, so people hear and know the truth,” she said. “We are God’s children and we have to save ourselves.”

She sang "Aria of Odarka" from the Ukrainian opera "Kupalo," which she said was about a war in the country hundreds of years ago.

“The story is the same right now for us,” Golodinskii said.

Andrea Bolender, chairwoman of the memorial center’s board of directors, said the concert was a very personal event for her. She said she visited Ukraine last October to visit Holocaust survivors in the country.

“We need to understand that when this is happening, it’s happening to all of us and we need to stop it,” Bolender said.

She introduced Mitya Bykov, a Holocaust survivor born in Ukraine, who advocates for Holocaust remembrance. He said everyone has to be aware of Russia's invasion of his country and said we must advocate for no more war.

“Our meeting today is very important for Ukrainian people around the whole world,” he said. “This war brings so much blood and brings so much tears from mothers, and separates children from families.”