A Ukrainian youth choir is touring Europe singing hymns in praise of freedom and highlighting the suffering in their war-torn homeland.
The Shchedryk ensemble is the oldest professional children’s choir in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
The choir which is celebrating its 50th anniversary has already performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Many of the members and their families have been forced to flee from Ukraine.
CBN News reports some have lost relatives and friends.
Only a third of the choir still live in Kyiv where they assembled for rehearsals plagued by air raid sirens, missile strikes and blackouts.
Some of those rehearsals took place in bomb shelters.
The choir is made up of 51 girls and five boys, aged from 11 to 25.
Their signature performance is Carol of the Bells which featured prominently in the 1990 Home Alone Christmas movie.
It was originally written as a winter folk song by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych under the title Shchedryk which gave the choir its name.
They even gave an impromptu performance of it in New York’s Grand Central Station.
