About Us

The National House of Music is a state national cultural institution of Ukraine that shapes the country's modern musical landscape through concert activity, artistic production, international cooperation, and the development of Ukraine's musical heritage.

The House of Music combines the preservation of national cultural heritage with the creation of new artistic projects, international co-productions, recordings, festivals, and touring programs. It is a platform that brings together leading Ukrainian performers, conductors, composers, researchers, and curators in the field of academic music, and represents Ukrainian culture on the international stage.

The National House of Music was founded by a decision of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR in 1978 as the Republican House of Organ and Chamber Music. For the new concert hall, one of the finest concert organs in Europe was built — an instrument by the Czech company Rieger-Kloss with 55 registers and three manuals, which became a landmark of Ukraine's musical culture.

In 1981, the House of Music opened its doors to audiences. Its first director and artistic director was Professor Arseniy Kotlyarevsky — founder of the Ukrainian organ school, whose work shaped the development of organ performance in Ukraine for decades to come.

For forty concert seasons, the House of Music was the country's main center for organ and chamber music. It hosted international festivals and Ukrainian premieres of major works of world sacred music, and it fostered a professional community of performers, teachers, and audiences that became the foundation for the development of Ukrainian organ culture.

On September 3, 2021, a large-scale fire completely destroyed the historic concert organ, and the House of Music lost its permanent stage. The work did not stop: the team transformed into a mobile arts organization of a new type, carrying out its projects at leading concert venues in Ukraine and abroad.

Today, the National House of Music brings together more than 150 highly professional musicians, including organists, conductors, vocal and instrumental soloists, chamber ensembles, researchers, and creative managers.

The team also includes the Liatoshynskyi Capella — one of Ukraine's leading ensembles, comprising a symphony orchestra, a choir, and an early music ensemble. The Capella carries out large-scale concert, opera, and international projects.

The National House of Music presents a wide range of artistic programs spanning classical, chamber, choral, symphonic, early, and contemporary academic music.

The House of Music creates concert series, festivals, opera and music-theater productions, international touring programs, digital releases, educational programs, research initiatives, and interdisciplinary artistic projects.

One of its flagship projects is Kyiv Baroque Fest — an international festival of historically informed performance, created in partnership with the National Philharmonic of Ukraine and Open Opera Ukraine. The festival has become a platform for creative dialogue between Ukrainian and leading European musicians.

A separate area of work is expanding access to academic art. The House of Music runs inclusive concert programs, including the project "Music of the Senses," which opens up concert spaces to people with disabilities and diverse audiences.

International cooperation is one of the strategic directions of the National House of Music's development.

The institution integrates Ukrainian musical culture into the European and global artistic space through international co-productions, touring programs, festivals, creative residencies, professional exchanges, recording projects, and partnership programs.

The National House of Music collaborates with leading concert organizations, orchestras, festivals, cultural organizations, production centers, and independent music platforms across Europe.

Among its partners are the Hamburg State Opera, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Jordi Savall Festival, the LIEDBasel International Festival, the European Orchestra of Young Musicians SOC COOP, as well as other European cultural organizations and independent production platforms.

Joint programs involve leading contemporary musicians, including Kent Nagano, Jordi Savall, Andreas Scholl, Felix Klieser, Alexandras Šimelis, Vincent Kozlovsky, Jörg Zwicker, and others.

A separate area of focus is the international presentation of Ukrainian music through concert tours, stage productions, studio recordings, digital releases, publishing projects, commissions of new works by Ukrainian composers, and cooperation with international music labels and distributors.

Since the start of the full-scale Russian aggression, the National House of Music has continued its uninterrupted artistic activity — supporting Ukrainian musicians, carrying out charitable and social initiatives, cooperating with Culture Forces of Ukraine (Культурні сили України), and representing Ukrainian culture on the international stage.

Today, music serves as an instrument of cultural diplomacy, social resilience, and international solidarity. Through its projects, the House of Music tells the world about Ukraine in the language of culture and helps strengthen international partnerships.

Today, the National House of Music is one of Ukraine's leading music institutions and a modern production center for academic art.

Drawing on our own history, we are creating new models of musical production, international cooperation, and cultural diplomacy, forming an open European platform for the development of Ukrainian music.

The mission of the National House of Music is to preserve musical heritage, support contemporary art, discover new names, and ensure worthy representation of Ukrainian culture in the global cultural space.