The Metropolitan Opera, Polish National Opera, National Opera of Ukraine, and Lviv National Opera present the world premiere concert version of Mothers of Kherson. Composed by Maxim Kolomiiets with a libretto by American playwright George Brant, the opera follows two mothers from Kherson. They travel over four thousand kilometers through Russian-controlled territories to rescue their daughters from Crimea.

“This is a story about one of the most painful crimes of this war,” says Kolomiiets. “It is important to me that this experience is heard worldwide.”

Jointly commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and the Polish National Opera, this concert version is the work’s first public performance. Peter Gelb, General Director of the Metropolitan Opera, states: “I can think of no more effective way to support Ukraine culturally than with an opera that captures the reality of war and testifies to the personal courage of Ukrainian women and men.”

The staged world premiere will open in Warsaw in October 2026. The US premiere follows at the Metropolitan Opera during the 2027–28 season. Kerry-Lynn Wilson – Music Director of the Kyiv Camerata since 2024 and founder of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra — will conduct both productions. Following a 2025 European tour and a Deutsche Grammophon recording, Wilson and the orchestra will perform the opera’s suite again on their 2026 tour, including a stop at New York’s Lincoln Center.