International Symphony Orchestra Lviv

“ІNSO-Lviv” (International Symphony Orchestra Lviv) of the Lviv Philharmonic Society. The orchestra was founded in 1998.

«….an item of the Ukrainian cultural export – “INSO-Lviv” Orchestra» – Oleksiy Kogan, Ukrainian jazzman, radio journalist and presenter, TV presenter, producer and artistic director of Jazz in Kyiv Centre, artistic curator of Leopolis Jazz Fest.

“… an orchestra with young, motivated and curious musicians” – Lisa Batiashvili, violinist

“Their enthusiasm, commitment and professional attitude impressed me a lot” – Sir Dirk Brossé, conductor and composer

“INSO-Lviv” (International Symphony Orchestra) is truly one of the best example of the fact that the Ukrainian cultural product is worth of world exports and this is evidenced year by year by its collaboration with world-famous musicians and conductors. The quality of music is a determining factor that specializes it and, ultimately, gives flexibility in the choice of repertoire – from classical music to jazz, from opera to musicals and popular music. It is worth mentioning that the soloists in the concert programs of “INSO-Lviv” were the world-renowned musicians and conductors. The orchestra concert programs have featured such outstanding soloists as Francois Leleux, Lisa Batiashvili, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Alexander Zemtsov, Sergey Nakariakov, Otto Sauter, Valeriy Sokolov, Vadim Neselovskyi, Simon Trpčeski, Ilya Grubert, Alan Bern, Lorin Sklamberg, Andriy Bielov, Leopold Kozlowski, Claude Delangle, Maria Prinz, Philippe Pierlot and many others. INSO-Lviv has successfully collaborated with outstanding guest conductors, including Georg Kugi, Sir Dirk Brossé, Krzysztof Penderecki, Oksana Lyniv, Raymond Janssen, Simon Camartin, Reinhard Seehafer, Fahraddin Kerimov, Nicolás Pasquet, Dalia Stasevska, Christian Schumann, Paul Mann, Yaroslav Shemet and others.

The geography of the orchestra’s touring includes not only European countries. “INSO-Lviv” has successfully performed on the stages of China, Colombia and Egypt.

Orchestra CDs have Radio Swiss Classic awards. In June 2017, Paramax Films, a French production company, recorded a film with INSO-Lviv performance at the International Alfa Jazz Fest featuring the world-renowned Avishai Cohen Trio. The film is broadcasted by Mezzo Classic-Jazz TV. In 2018 the orchestra performed on the main stage of Leopolis Jazz Fest featuring the outstanding bassist of the world fame Lars Danielsson and his Liberetto III Group., The orchestra is on list of headliners of the 10th jubilee Leopolis Jazz Fest in 2020 in the program «Richard Galliano & Lars Danielsson Meet “INSO-Lviv” Symphony Orchestra».

In 2017 the orchestra established a fruitful collaboration with the British recording company Toccata Classics. In autumn 2018, the “Skoryk: Paganini by Arrangement” CD saw its release featuring the 24 Caprices by Niccolò Paganini in arrangement for the big symphony orchestra by Myroslav Skoryk, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Maestro Skoryk. Almost immediately the CD was listed among others in the BBC Radio 3 “Record Review” program. There was also made a recording of the world premieres of the two pieces by the Hungarian-Jewish composer Pál Hermann.

First of all, it is a highly professional orchestra. His recognition is confirmed by the invitation to participate as an orchestra-in-residence at international festivals, celebrations and competitions: “LvivMozArt” International Classical Music Festival (Ukraine), the 24th Johannes Brahms International Competition in Poertschach (Austria). Since 2017, the orchestra has set off on successful concert tours in the Netherlands (concert venues including Concertgebouw Amsterdam and De Doelen Rotterdam among others) under direction of a Dutch conductor Raymond Janssen, founder and director of Cadenza European Art Productions. In 2019 “INSO-Lviv” orchestra took part in the historic production of Verdi’s “Aida” near the Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor (Egypt) under direction of Oksana Lyniv.

“INSO-Lviv” is not limited to the role of an academic symphony orchestra. It is, above all, an orchestra that proclaims the idea of peace. It implements a key mission in its projects – cultural diplomacy – thanks to the unifying power of music. In March 2014, “INSO-Lviv” initiated and carried out the all-Ukrainian cultural project “Shared Sky” when seven leading orchestras of Ukraine simultaneously performed Beethoven’s «Ode to Joy» at the major airports of Ukraine (Kyiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv) emphasizing the unity of Ukraine and marking the Ukraine-EU Political Association Agreement signature. In 2015, “INSO-Lviv” organized a wide-scale international music event “BACH Marathon – Ready. Steady. BACH!” participated by more than 600 musicians from different countries having set the record for the longest live performance of Bach music in Ukraine. Annually the orchestra fulfills music projects under the motto “Classic for Peace”, one of them took place in Kyiv on November 15, 2015, and was highly acclaimed, featuring Sir Dirk Brossé as a conductor, the world-renowned composer, principal conductor of the Star Wars in Concert World Tour. On a yearly basis the orchestra presents concerts from series “Symphonic Pearls of Vienna”, “Music of the Danube Region”, “INSO-Lviv Orchestral Academy” in collaboration with an Austrian conductor Georg Kugi.

Active volunteer, charitable and educational activities of the orchestra should not be overlooked. In June 2017, an all-Ukrainian tour “Music of Freedom. Vadim Neselovsky’s Jazz Improvisation” was made within the project “East and West Together”, which aimed to strengthen musical and friendly ties between East and West of Ukraine and once again prove that we, Ukrainians, are united in our pursuit of freedom and peace! For active assistance to the Ukrainian military in 2017, the orchestra, represented by the Chairman of the Board Iolanta Pryshlyak, was awarded the Medal “For Volunteering” and the Order “Combat Volunteer of Ukraine”.

“INSO-Lviv” is a bright palette of emotions which the musicians share generously with the audience while implementing its artistic and educational mission, as well as the one of cultural diplomacy.

Since 2007 the orchestra’s Chair of the Board, creative advisor and initiator of many projects and programs has been Iolanta Pryshlyak.