MEMBERS of one of the world’s greatest male choirs have been spared from fighting in a vicious Eastern European war due to their importance to their country as cultural ambassadors both at home and internationally.

The Boyan Ensemble, the travelling section of the Revutsky Academic Male Capella based in Kiev, Ukraine, will be performing at St Francis Xavier Church, Broad Street, Hereford, on Tuesday, October 20, at 7.30pm, as part of an extensive tour of Britain.

“There has been serious ongoing concern that our singers would be conscripted into the army, but we decided to throw caution to the winds and go ahead with this tour because to cancel it would have caused bitter disappointment on all sides,” said Margarete Rolle, the organiser of the Boyan’s British tours for the past 23 years.

“This tour demonstrates that there’s more to Ukraine than bombs and bullets, a worn-out Soviet infrastructure and a bedevilled political system. Whatever its problems, Ukraine has a rich, traditional culture which never fails to impress and members of Boyan are exemplary ambassadors of this powerful musical heritage.

“There are devastating circumstances facing the nation, the economy is perilously close to default and an economist recently quipped that compared to Ukraine, Greece looks like Switzerland. The dire financial situation and austerity measures make life very difficult for the singers who struggle to provide for their families. They are reliant on their government’s funding but this has become tenuous under the circumstances.

“They therefore hope that their British tour will be a big success because it gives them a rare opportunity to earn some real money at a time when their currency has plummeted to disastrous levels, and I beg people to support them.

Tickets priced £18 and £16 for the concert at Hereford are available through Outback Records on 01432 275063 (cash or cheque only please).