Mothers of Chersonia

Opera in 2 actsLibretto: George BrantpraPremiere: 16/10/2026, TW-ONKOProduction: Metropolitan Opera, New York Original English version with Polish and English subtitles

“Do not get used to our suffering,” Olena Zelenskaya appealed in 2024, reminding the world of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Chersonia mothers are the answer to this call. The opera was created in a co-production of the Grand Theater - the National Opera and the New York Metropolitan Opera, two institutions that have been actively involved in helping the struggling country since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. One such initiative is the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra conducted by conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, who has also been involved in the work on the work.

The authors of the Mothers of Chersonia are the American playwright George Brant and the Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets—two artists with opera experience. They were looking for a story that would at the same time reflect the scale of the suffering of the current war, but could also have an impact on a very universal level. The opera focuses on the harrowing events that have taken place since the beginning of the Russian invasion — the mass abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children. However, the libretto is only inspired by real stories, trying to show in a synthetic summary the diversity of the destinies of women and at the same time their common features. All of them lost their daughters, who were deported to the Crimea by deception. Due to the hostilities, despite the geographical proximity of Kherson and the Crimean Peninsula, they have to travel a route of thousands of kilometers and get to the camp, where the children are held by a circular road. Will they be able to recover the children that were taken from them?

The production is directed by Barbara Wysocka, who made her opera debut on the stage of the Teatr Wielki - National Opera, and is currently developing a career in European opera houses. In her interpretation, Mothers of Chersonia is a politically engaged opera, using rich documentary material, but at the same time touching on very basic themes: the suffering of war, the experience of oppression, parental love and the power of community.

Mothers of Chersonia is an example of operatic work that responds to the challenges of today: it takes on an extremely painful subject, allowing the voices of injured women to be heard and to focus on the suffering of children, but also — while underlining the tragic dimension of the great story that affects the fate of individuals — it is also a work of will to fight and sacrifice in the name of the values they profess.

Choir and Orchestra of the Great Theatre - National OperasWładysław Skoraczewski Children's Choir “Artos”