Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine Principal Conductor Theodore Kuchar directs the group's performance of Tragic Overture, Op. 81 by Johannes Brahams at the Barbara B. Mann Performance Hall in Fort Myers recently. NATHAN MAYBERG

It was one of those special nights that come along rarely in music. A special performance by an exceptional group of musicians during a turning point in the world. The Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine was in Fort Myers Monday at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall just days after 40 people were killed in a Russian missile attack on an apartment building in their home country.

For the past year, Ukraine has been fighting to save the independence of their country from the invading forces of their neighbors, the Russian Federation. Monday’s concert was planned two years in advance but it has taken on all the more significance with the ongoing war. The U.S. State Department is sponsoring the philharmonic’s six-week tour of the United States, which was in its fourth performance in four nights Monday.

So it was fitting that on a night where nearly all 1,800 of the Barbara B. Mann Performing Art Hall’s seats were filled as their countrymen battled to defend their nation from the onslaught of their neighbor’s aggression, the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine performed Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 “From the New World.” The composition was written in the 19th Century during the Czech composer’s stay in the U.S. while he served as director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York.

The score should be recognizable to American audiences as various parts were used, borrowed, lifted or otherwise influenced the music in blockbuster films such as “Lord of the Rings,” “Jaws” and “Star Wars.” The main theme in Dvorak’s “From the New World” closely resembles the celebratory and heroic battle cry arch in “Lord of the Rings,” whose ending is what the Ukrainian symphony and their brethren in their native country hope their nation will achieve in their fight to defend themselves against Russia.

Monday’s performance was buttressed by mesmerizing Ukrainian art on display in the lobby and a rousing speech from the symphony’s conductor about the fight for the independent life of Ukraine.

Yet it was tough to top the orchestra’s rendition of “Violin Concerto in D major” by Johannes Brahms, which is the only violin concerto by Brahms, with one of the most dazzling violin solos in classical music. Soloist Vladyslava Lucheno played the impossible violin solo work on the piece, on a Francesco Gobetti violin of 1710, on loan from a private collection. The impeccable flourish of her violin solo was met with multiple applauses including a round of applause after the first movement. The symphony opened the concert with a performance of “Tragic Overture, Op. 81” by Brahms.

The crowd handed the orchestra multiple standing ovations.

After Monday’s intermission before the symphony performed the Dvorak symphony, their American-born conductor Theodore Kuchar, spoke to the audience about the nation’s history, its dire state and the philharmonic’s journey to the U.S. which was planned two years ago before war broke out after Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February of 2022.

“We believe (Ukraine) will once again return to being a safe democracy for many years to come after this completely unnecessary and pointless war comes to an end,” Kuchar said. Kuchar, a first-generation Ukrainian American who was born in New York, said the brave fight Ukrainians are putting up against Russia is the result of an “incredible amount of pride, patriotism and nationalism.” Kuchar said if the U.S. hadn’t supported Ukraine the war might have been over already.

Speaking before the concert to the Fort Myers Beach Observer, Kuchar spoke of the importance of the philharmonic’s tour amid the war in Ukraine.

“Nobody could have imagined in their wildest dreams that what has happened right now in a daily basis,” Kuchar said. “We are extremely happy to be here. We see ourselves as ambassadors for a free, loving country which wants nothing more than to simply be a respected, accepted democratic nation that is respected by the rest of the world.”

Kuchar, who has directed Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra in Australia, the Slovak Sinfonietta, the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Czech Radio Orchestra), and directed the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and Nevada Chamber Music Festival, said “we are extremely grateful to the United States of America” for its support.

Maestro Kuchar said the entire orchestra is dealing with issues from the war. “What’s happening right now with lack of stability, with no electricity, with no running water in some places, with no gas, existence is very much taken for granted when you have all those things,” Kuchar said.

“Rations for electricity in many places in Ukraine is limited to four hours for 24-hour periods.” Kuchar said “every Ukrainian believes that this war and this onslaught will result in the independence Ukraine seeks.”

Though he was born in New York City to Ukranian parents, they moved to Pittsburgh when he was 5 and to Cleveland when he was 10. He learned to play the violin and then switched to the viola. After studying at the Cleveland Institute of Music, he would go on to become artistic director of the National Symphony of Ukraine and later as resident conductor of the Kent/Blossom Music Festival, the educational institution established in cooperation with The Cleveland Orchestra, where he was responsible for the orchestral program.

“This tour, I regard as a very important, very symbolic trip,” Kuchar said.