A musical tour to Russia and the Crimea by a British brass ensemble has created a high profile media storm after it emerged it was undertaken despite them being informed of the potential for it creating political tension.

Symphonic Brass Wales, which markets itself as 'Wales' leading touring brass ensemble' visited Russia and Crimea, which was annexed from Ukraine by forces of the Russian Federation in 2014, on a tour that lasted from 13th to 24th August.

Formal concerns

However, it's been confirmed to 4BR that the tour went ahead despite formal concerns being made to them by both the Ukrainian Embassy and the British Foreign Office prior to the ensemble leaving the UK.

On the 10th August, the Ukrainian Embassy used its Twitter account to state that the visit was illegal and would have 'consequences' under Ukrainian legislation. They also stated that the Embassy had informed the UK Foreign Office about 'legal measures' that would be taken if the visit took place.

The tweet ended by stating that they felt that the ensemble was 'blowing (a) RU (Russian Federation) trumpet!'

It has now emerged that the ensemble has been contacted by 'The Mail on Sunday' newspaper, asking for comment on an article that is planned to by run on Sunday 2nd September.

Social media comment

That follows considerable social media comment about the ensemble and tour, both positive and negative, brought to the fore on the website Nation.cymru which described itself as, 'A news service by the people of Wales, for the people of Wales'.

Jonathan Hibberd, an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Euro-Atlantic Cooperation, a Kiev-based think tank is quoted on it as saying: "The nature of the visit, exhaustive itinerary around basically the entire peninsula, glowing social media posts with sycophantic comments from strangers using non-standard English paints a suspicious picture of why the tour took place, who paid for it and why?"

Adamant

Speaking to 4BR, Wales Symphonic Brass Ensemble spokesperson Craig Roberts confirmed that they had been contacted by the Ukrainian Embassy and the UK Foreign Office before flying to Russia.

However, he was adamant that they had made a fully informed decision and that no individual or organisation involved in the tour had received any financial remuneration.

"Symphonic Brass Wales visited Russia to perform at the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow in 2017 and following that success the invitation was made to perform at various venues in Krasnodar and the Black Sea Peninsula this year.

We were contacted by the Ukrainian Embassy three days before our visit and the Foreign Office the day before we left. We took into account their observations and made an informed decision to go ahead.

We appreciate the reservations of those who did not agree with us going, but we have also been heartened by those who have supported it."

Support

To illustrate his point, Craig pointed to the letters of support from the likes of the Director of the State Palace and Department of Culture of Crimea, the Director of the Archaeological Museum, the Tavrida Youth Forum and UNESCO World Heritage site at Chersonese.

The latter stated:"The participants of this concert will never forget your performance and improvisation with the children's orchestra from St Petersburg in the Byzantine courtyard of our museum.

It was very touching and magical! Art is above politics! Art always unites us! We will be glad to see your musicians in our museum again!"

We appreciate the reservations of those who did not agree with us going, but we have also been heartened by those who have supported itCraig Roberts

Solution

He added: "We firmly hope that a solution to the political situation in Crimea can be found as, for all Moscow and Kiev's wrangling over the region, the people there do not deserve to be cut off from international contact and culture, and surely it is the people of the region who, in all of this, should be the most important consideration.

Despite the suppositions of a number of the tour's critics, this visit was entirely self-funded. Each musician covered their own flight costs, while local transportation and accommodation were provided in kind by local hoteliers.

No individual or organisation involved in the tour received any form of financial remuneration and all concert performances were provided free of charge."

Further information:

The story on Nation.cymru website can be viewed at:
https://nation.cymru/news/welsh-musicians-spark-ukraine-row/

The response on the Symphonic Brass website can be viewed at:
https://www.symphonicbrasswales.com/news.html