FREE CHRISTMAS ARRANGEMENT FOR UKRAINIAN CHILDREN'S CHARITY:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas 

Liz Lane has created a brass band arrangement of a version of We Wish you a Merry Christmas by award winning Ukrainian composer Halyna Ovcharenko. It's free to download with donations to Ukrainian charity Help Orphans Affected by War (Bright Kids / Global Giving), written for youth band / 4th section upwards and with flexible instrumentation (minimum 5 cornets, flugel, tenor horn, baritone, trombone, euphonium, Eb bass, glockenspiel).

Halyna wrote the arrangement for her pupil Avi and his mum Abi to play, one of a series of piano duets to raise money for the charity. She has lived in the UK since studying for her PhD at Bristol University, although most of her family live in Ukraine.

Liz said: 'I saw the video of Avi and Abi's performance of We Wish you a Merry Christmas on Facebook last week. Jack Stamp (Grimethorpe's International Composer in Association), recently asked me if I had a Christmas arrangement the band might play for their holiday concert he is conducting in Peterborough on December 10th, and this seemed the perfect choice. I'm hoping it will appeal to bands of all levels, and there will be a spare slot in Christmas programmes and carol play-outs - and help raise money for Ukrainian orphans this Christmas. Thank you!

I have known Halyna since we both wrote ballets for the London Children's Ballet and have kept in touch with her since the conflict began. I met up with her last weekend, when she brought me up to date with how things are for her family in Ukraine, and told me that she hopes in the future to create a charitable trust for young Ukrainian musicians and artists.'
 

We Wish You a Merry Christmas score and parts can be downloaded from https://bit.ly/WWYaMC22 or where an audio is also available. 

Donations to:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/ukraine-help-orphans-affected-by-war/donate. 

Many thanks to Andrew Wainwright from BrookWright Music who gave up his time at short notice to put together the audio version, and Grimethorpe Colliery Band who are planning to add We Wish you a Merry Christmas to their Christmas programmes and create a video.

To see more of Halyna's work and find out about her other arrangements for the charity, go to www.halynaovcharenko.com