RITUAL & PERFORMANCE: WHY SING AND FOR WHOM?

In this conversation, Ukrainian singer, actress, and composer Mariana Sadovska reflects on the function of song not only as entertainment, but as something that emerges as ritual, prayer, or resistance in times of war, uncertainty and fear.

Mariana opens questions about the purpose of performance: for whom do we sing and why? What does it mean to stand on a stage today? And what power & responsibility do we have when we sing publicly?

Drawing on her global career as an experimental performer, ethnomusicological expeditions in rural communities and experience leading choirs, this conversation explores the relationship between song as art and song as action. It considers song as a catalyst for hope and asks what becomes possible when people come together to sing.

Mariana Sadovska is a Ukrainian singer, composer, and actress whose work fuses traditional song with contemporary and experimental music. Born in Lviv, she trained as a classical pianist before joining the Les’ Kurbas Theatre and later becoming a principal actress, composer, and music director with Teatr Gardzienice in Poland. 

Her solo work draws on decades of field research into Ukrainian folk traditions and has been presented on major international stages including the Barbican Centre (London), the Lincoln Centre and the Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York) and leading festivals across Europe and the United States, alongside collaborations with artists and ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet.