Thus, Evgeny has repeatedly presented Ukraine at the White House (USA), Buckingham Palace (Great Britain) in the countries of the Middle East, China and European countries.

And since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, the musician has held more than 100 charity concerts and collected about 1,000,000 million dollars to help the army.

Yevhen assures that nowadays music is our pain reliever and sedative, which is necessary for everyone.

In an exclusive interview, TSN.ua talked with Yevhen Khmara about the phenomenon of music therapy and its effect on our body, why Russian artists are still present in the top charts of Ukraine, about how the occupiers destroyed the largest grand piano in Ukraine, on which Elton John, Keiko played Matsui and other world stars, as well as about the upcoming

concert in the October Palace

with the ZSU Symphony Orchestra, which will take place on December 11.

1+1 media is the media partner of the event. 

Yevgeny, how did the war affect you personally and your activities?

Were there moments when you didn't want to continue creating or even sit down at the instrument?

Undoubtedly, the war changed the life of every Ukrainian.

She definitely made us deeper, more sensitive.

She taught me to appreciate everyday things: morning coffee, light... Surprisingly, a lot of light music appeared with the war.

Today it has become a certain sedative, antidepressant.

By the way, already on February 24, I held my first online concert.

People watched and listened to him directly from the bomb shelters.

It gave an understanding that music is necessary nowadays. 

As soon as my family and I left for western Ukraine, because at that moment my wife was pregnant with the third child, I immediately started giving concerts.

The first live concert took place right in the middle of the train station, in Lviv.

Then there were firing ranges, performances in military hospitals, reception points for internally displaced persons.

We also organized one of the performances in Lviv with the singer Iryna Fedyshyn.

Moreover, we had only one, 30-minute rehearsal.

In peacetime, such collaborations would be planned for at least several months. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EVGENY KHMARA PIANIST Evgeny Khmara (@evgenykhmara)

I will say frankly: during the first concerts it was very difficult to play.

An internal question constantly arose: "Is music necessary today?

Is it necessary at a time when the war is going on?".

Then the people themselves gave me the answer to these questions.

They said that music now is like a breath of fresh air, it helps to survive difficult emotions and feelings.

Even people who lost their homes and loved ones longed for music.

This really impressed me. 

Music is a kind of therapy.

Tell us exactly how it affects the state of people and our emotions.

Perhaps you have interesting cases or stories related to this? 

The effect of music on our body is amazing.

Back in the 1950s, Japanese scientists conducted experiments on how sounds and music affect water.

And the human body consists of almost 70% water.

Accordingly, music has a direct influence on us. 

I have been organizing concerts for special children for 6 years.

There is a story that just drew me to the subject of music therapy.

Back in 2013, I released my first album "Fairy Tale", which was recorded accompanied by a symphony orchestra.

It began to be ordered by organizations dealing with special children, both in Germany and the Baltic countries.

Since then, I started receiving many letters of thanks and touching stories that moved me to tears every time.

In one of the special educational institutions, a child who has no hearing was playing with the teacher's phone, where the album "Fairytale" was recorded.

At one point, the child runs up to the teacher and points to her ear, and then to the phone - she heard a melody.

Miracle!

When I read this story, which was a letter on several A4 pages with gratitude, I could not contain my emotions.

After that, I realized that music has a great power.

I began to study this topic more, read foreign language articles, research.

I understood that music therapy is actively used in other countries, and that it is not some kind of esoteric, but a clear physical manifestation of how music affects our body.

When I first decided to do a music therapy concert for children, I faced many misunderstandings and difficulties in the organization.

For example, I was immediately warned that special children have difficulty holding attention for more than 20 minutes.

Therefore, it is during this time that the performance should last.

Then, at my first concert, 800 spectators came, these were special children with their parents or mentors.

I remember my excitement when I went on stage for the first time and felt the powerful energy that flowed from the hall.

I was playing and couldn't hold back tears.

25, 40 minutes pass, and the children listen, smile, dance, cry.

Then the concert lasted an hour and a half, instead of the planned 20 minutes.

Moreover, about an hour after the performance, the children did not want to let me go.

We talked, took pictures, hugged.

The nearest plans for 2023 are to create a new format of music therapy for military personnel, people who have passed the way on the front lines.

I strongly believe that it will have a powerful impact and response.

We want to cover every corner of our country to help as many people as possible.

But this requires strong financial and technical support.

Without partners and outside help, it will be difficult to realize this idea.

After all, you yourself understand, even in order to move a grand piano and other equipment across the country, certain resources are needed.

In your social networks, you said that the occupiers destroyed your precious grand piano, on which you played almost all of your concerts, moreover, the British artist Elton John and the Japanese composer Keiko Matsui played on it.

How did it happen and what emotions did you experience then?

It was the largest and coolest grand piano in Ukraine.

Elton John and Keiko Matsui played it when they came to Kyiv with performances.

I also played almost all my shows in the capital on this piano.

The grand piano, along with other valuable equipment and instruments, was stored in a warehouse in Bucha.

This is a hero city that was under the full occupation of Russian troops almost from the first days of the war.

At that time, numerous crimes, mass shootings and real genocide took place on the territory of the city.

It was because of enemy shelling of the building where the instruments were located that the grand piano burned to the ground.

Unfortunately, it is simply impossible to restore it.

This is another proof that the Russians are real barbarians who continue to destroy the Ukrainian people and our history every day.

But Ukrainians are stronger than that, we will definitely stand and win!

Of course, I took this information painfully, because it was not just an instrument that burned down, but a whole story.

However, I simply do not have the right to make a big tragedy out of this.

After all, a grand piano does not compare to the pain of those Ukrainians from whom the Russians took the most precious things: family, loved ones, home, happy life... At such moments I say to myself: "Thank you, God, for the money."

Evgeny, as far as we know, during the full-scale invasion, you organized more than 100 charity concerts.

Tell us more about it. 

During charity concerts in different parts of the world, I managed to collect more than 1,000,000 million dollars, which were transferred to the UNITED 24 fund and to the direct accounts of the Armed Forces.

In addition to charity meetings, the main mission of my trips and speeches is to present Ukraine and tell the truth about the dramatic events and crimes committed by the Russian Federation on our territory. 

Having visited countries that continue to be under Russian propaganda, I realized that the word is a really powerful weapon.

And that through creativity you can and should convey important things.

Already during a full-scale war, I gave a concert in the central square of one of the Arab countries.

Before the speech, I was warned that I should not say anything about Russia's war against Ukraine, because the embassy would later be punished for it.

And if you really want to talk about something in terms of war, talk about peace. 

However, I went on stage with a clear mission - to convey the truth and the position of Ukrainians to the world.

I am an artist, my weapon is music.

From the beginning of the performance, I began to carefully talk about Ukraine through the music.

I started with the banal: I asked if there were Ukrainians present - people started raising their hands and supporting me louder.

Then I presented one of the compositions something like this: "Friends, now I will play a traditional Ukrainian song that always sounds from Chernihiv to Crimea, from Ivano-Frankivsk to Donbas."

At that time, I saw how the embassy and the Minister of Tourism of this country "turned green" a little.

But at the end of the performance, all the spectators were happy and satisfied.

Even the minister himself thanked him for such a cool concert, and the embassy added: "You conveyed the information well - well done!"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by EVGENY KHMARA PIANIST Evgeny Khmara (@evgenykhmara)

On December 11, you announced a big concert in "Zhovtnevo", tell us more about it.

What can the audience expect?

Perhaps you will reveal the behind-the-scenes information about the repertoire and program of the event?

I hesitated for a long time whether to do such measures now.

But today I am absolutely sure that this

concert

is necessary for both me and the people. 

Of course, it will not be a classic show that I usually do, where there is a lot of light, screens, 3-D graphics, scenery, various special effects.

There won't be much artificial light, it will shine from our souls and hearts, and of course from the souls and hearts of the audience.

We will light up the hall, Kyiv and all of Ukraine with it.

Also, this time there will be no collaborations with artists.

The audience is used to the fact that every year I do quality collaborations on stage.

But not now.

This is a certain conceptual endurance of this concert. 

Also, during the show, all compositions will be played accompanied by the symphony orchestra of the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the direction of Dmytro Antonyuk.

The concert will consist of two sections.

The first chapter will be more fairy-tale-Christmas, bright and good.

You can say - a classical concert accompanied by an orchestra.

The second is more modern: a combination of styles (elements of symphony), collaborations with a DJ.

But, I will repeat that, despite this, the atmosphere of the event will be maintained.

Let me remind you that the concert will take place this Sunday, December 11, at 2:00 p.m. and at 5:00 p.m. in the "October Palace" in Kyiv.

Tickets can be purchased

 via the link.

Do you have a warm relationship with the stars of Ukrainian show business, are your colleagues planning to attend a concert?

Perhaps someone has already been invited personally? 

Currently, Ukrainian stars are waging a daily struggle on various fronts, bringing our Victory closer.

Therefore, it is currently difficult to say about the star guests of the event, because most of the colleagues are currently away, because they also organize charity initiatives and concerts in European countries, tell the world about Russia's war in Ukraine and collect funds to help the Armed Forces. 

Evgeny, 

what is music

about for you personally?

Music is the greatest manifestation of light on this planet.

You know, there are things that cannot be described in words.

Music is the key to our hearts and souls.

This is a certain element that is able to awaken what has long been forgotten or closed behind locks that we ourselves have created during our lives.

This is such a phenomenon - music.

Together with your wife, you are raising three beautiful children.

Do you notice a flair for music in them?

Music is an integral part of our family, so Dasha's and my children live in music since childhood.

If we talk about the peacetime, about all the concert tours in Ukraine or abroad, we visited them together.

But whether they will be musicians is another question.

My wife and I are for the right to choose.

Whoever they want to be, they will be.

But I am sure that music at the basic level of music schools gives many bonuses in life.

Therefore, we will definitely send children to music schools, and there, I repeat, if it does not bring them pleasure, then we will look for new hobbies.

Yevhen Khmara with children

Evgeny Khmara with his wife

In the top charts of Ukraine, for example, in Spotify and Apple Music, there are still songs by Russian artists.

In your opinion, as a musician, is it possible to resist this and how?

You definitely can't resist it.

In general, forbidding anything to people is a bad and ineffective thing.

After all, this always causes the opposite effect.

This applies to absolutely everything - including music and language.

However, I am sure that everything has its time.

Many people who have never spoken Ukrainian in their life have started to actively study and speak it.

For them, this is a principled position that resonates with me.

Such a story will happen with what we listen to. 

I'm glad that now more and more new Ukrainian artists are appearing who create decent music.

The new generation, in fact, works hard to popularize Ukrainian tracks as much as possible.

And it works.

In general, you should not limit yourself to only Ukrainian tracks.

The whole world is before us.

In Europe, the USA there is a lot of great music that you can also listen to.

In addition, let's be honest - the quality of Russian music is much inferior to Ukrainian music.

I am sure that the Russian tracks will gradually go away by themselves, it takes time. 

You know, it's when you look at a bright lamp at night, and it suddenly turns off, then you still continue to see it, or rather, the reflections from it.

But then they disappear.

It will be the same with everything Russian that we absorbed.

Today it is still such a small glint in our eyes, which is already fading irrevocably. 

Subscribe to our

Telegram

 and

Viber

channels .