Eurovision Ukrainian pianist to use music as a 'weapon'

The Piece Hall performance was almost scuppered because of the lack of a keyboard, but Ms Golovchenko managed to borrow one in the nick of time

A pianist who fled her home in war-torn Ukraine with just her young daughter and a suitcase has said she will use her instrument as a "weapon" at a concert in West Yorkshire.

Daria Golovchenko is to perform at a day-long Eurovision event at Halifax's Piece Hall.

The Eurovision Song Contest is being staged by the UK in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.

Ms Golovchenko said she would use music to speak about Ukrainian culture.

Ms Golovchenko said she had visited Liverpool and seen "signs of Ukrainian culture everywhere" which had made her "so happy"

The pianist, who fled her home in Kherson in April 2022, said it had been "the most difficult decision of my life".

"I could only bring one bag and it was very difficult to decide what to bring," she said.

"We had to pay crazy money for a driver. You could buy a ticket to Australia for the price we paid - and it was just from Kherson to Odessa, which is not a long distance," she added.

Ms Golovchenko, who is now based in Holmfirth, said she went without any food and slept on a "tiny" mattress on the floor of a train station, before being driven to Poland and eventually reaching her host.

'I fight here with music'

Speaking about her performance at the landmark Piece Hall she said: "It's a big opportunity to show and represent our culture through our music.

"I will play some Ukrainian music, with one piece composed by a Ukrainian composer who is in Lviv, and some other more recognisable songs."

Ms Golovchenko said it was "not the time to hide, but to speak about our Ukrainian culture".

She said: "The Russians destroy our cities, our lives, but they can't destroy our spirit - I fight here with music, my weapon is music."

Her host, Rachel Balen, a retired university lecturer, said: "It's good that this Eurovision opportunity has come for Daria a year after she arrived, because it has taken her a year to recover from the trauma of escaping Ukraine."