A CHOIR has overcome enormous obstacles to flee a war zone and travel to Britain for a record-breaking tour, which will see them visit Cirencester Parish Church.

The members of the Boyan Ensemble, who are drawn from Ukraine’s top professional male choir, the Revutsky Academic Male Capella of Kiev, have narrowly avoided being conscripted into the Ukrainian army despite the fact that their country remains embroiled in civil war with Russian.

Unperturbed by the hardships in their homeland, the Boyan Choir accepted the invitation to celebrate their 22nd tour of the UK by performing 22 concerts across the country in a month.

“The dire financial situation in Ukraine, and the punishing austerity measures that have been introduced, are a huge burden as the singers struggle to provide for their families,” said Margarete Rolle, the Boyan Ensemble’s UK representative.

“Restaurants, shops and other businesses have been closing down, and many of the members have lost their supplementary jobs singing in restaurants or working in some other capacity including music teaching, which used to help them get by. They need this current tour more than ever and hope for an opportunity to earn some real money at a time when the value of their local currency, the Ukrainian Hryvnia (now worth about five pence) has plummeted to an all-time low.

“It is difficult to summarise the momentous events that have engulfed Ukraine during the past ten months, so I am particularly pleased that it has been possible to schedule the tour. This national misfortune does not diminish what this amazing choir brings to the UK and the singers greatly look forward to impressing their audiences old and new with a spectacular display of vocal art.”

The first half of their concerts feature sacred music. Many of the works highlight the awesome basses for which the Boyans are renowned and also include the wonderful lyric soprano, Valentina Ivanenko, who sings a specially commissioned work accompanied on the Bandura – the musical symbol of Ukraine. Malvern resident, Ukrainian opera singer Vassily Savenko, joins his compatriots as guest soloist in Malvern and in selected venues on tour.

In the second half, the singers present a range of folk songs - some humorous, some romantic, some tragic, some heroic. Three songs feature the work of national poet, Taras Shevchenko, whose bicentenary is being celebrated this year and who is a national hero in the hearts of all Ukrainians.

Tickets for the concert at the church on Friday October 3, which is on the Market Place, costs £18 and are available from the Visitor information Centre on Park Street.