Reflections on Ukraine and a Concert to Provide Humanitarian Aid

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This past week marked the fourth year since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

With so much chaos in our world today, it’s easy to forget that Ukraine, with roughly 10% of the U.S. population, is fighting the west’s war for sovereignty and democracy.

Westport’s Brian and Marshall Mayer founded Ukraine Aid International (UAI) shortly after the war began in 2022. Its mission was straight forward: focus resources on the communities most devastated by war, particularly those near the front line.

From UAI’s co-founder, Marshall Mayer:

“For four years, we have worked in towns that rarely make headlines but endure shelling, blackouts, floods, and rebuilding in constant cycles. We have lost friends. Volunteer friends. Soldier friends. Civilian friends. Far more than anyone should lose at our age.

And yet what stays with me most is not loss, but resilience.

Ukrainians have been fighting and dying for their sovereignty since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea, when Russia decided Ukraine did not have the right to exist as a free nation.

But in Ukraine, life insists on continuing. A couple on a first date in an underground bar. Office workers eating lunch by the river in summer. A husband waiting at a train station with flowers. Even on the edge of war, people choose love, culture, family, and future.

We support Ukraine because the moral line is clear. This is a fight between destruction and self-determination. Between domination and dignity.”

Come stand with Ukraine and UAI in an upbeat joyous way!

On Thursday, March 5 at 7:00pm, join us at the Westport Country Playhouse for Keys for Resilience: a benefit concert supporting Connecticut’s sister cities in Ukraine, featuring Ukrainian pianist Ruslan Ramazanov and Ukrainian American soprano and bandurist Teryn Kuzma. Ukraine's Connecticut sister cities are Westport, Weston, Fairfield, Ridgefield, Stamford and Greenwich.

Ruslan is rebuilding his life in the United States after the full-scale invasion and now teaches at the Boston Conservatory; Teryn, a Connecticut native, brings both her radiant soprano voice and the 55-string Ukrainian bandura to the stage. Together they will perform works by Chopin, Prokofiev, Brahms, Debussy, Gershwin, and Ukrainian composer Myroslav Skoryk.

All proceeds from ticket sales will go directly to support UAI’s humanitarian efforts: for generators, water filters and emergency use vehicles. Tickets to this one-of-a-kind event can be found here.

Hope to see you at the concert. Thank you for enabling UAI to continue its important work on the front lines in Ukraine!