DakhaBrakha: The Sound of Free Ukraine
European tour presenting the new album Ptakh
The Ukrainian world music quartet DakhaBrakha, founded at the Kyiv experimental theater “Dakh”, has become a symbol of a new Ukraine — free, bold, and independent. With a sound that fuses authentic Ukrainian folk songs with global rhythms and instruments, DakhaBrakha has performed on leading music stages around the world, including Glastonbury, Sziget, Pohoda, Bonnaroo, Roskilde, GlobalFEST, and many others — from Mexico to South Korea.
This European tour marks the presentation of DakhaBrakha’s new album Ptakh (“Bird” in Ukrainian), which the band has been carefully crafting over the past few years. The songs were inspired by the Ukrainian resistance, the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian spirit, as well as the unwavering support expressed by people across the world. Ptakh is both a title and a key symbol in their work — a metaphor for freedom and for the powerful voice of Ukraine. Very soon, listeners around the world will be able to hear Ptakh on all major streaming platforms.
DakhaBrakha defines its unique style as “ethno-chaos” — a blend of multiple musical and cultural elements shaped through field expeditions, archival research, and deep immersion in folk traditions. Their performances are a powerful fusion of theater and music: the visual intensity of stage performance meets striking genre diversity.
The concert program includes audience favorites such as “Sho z-pod duba”, the haunting “Vesna”, and “Ptakh” — a spiritual anthem of today’s Ukraine with lyrics by renowned writer Serhiy Zhadan. The emotional centerpiece of the show is “Plyve Choven”, a moving tribute to Ukraine’s defenders and to those who will never return home.
Since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, DakhaBrakha has felt a deep sense of responsibility on stage.
“We seem to be speaking to the world on behalf of the whole country,” says Marko Halanevych. “We thank you for your support, we ask for what Ukraine needs to survive, and we share our pain. And we also show a small part of our rich culture — and by doing so, we challenge the propaganda about ‘one nation’.”
DakhaBrakha’s concerts are accompanied by powerful video art, including works by Ukrainian artists. Each performance becomes more than a concert — it is an immersive, emotional experience, a living soundscape of contemporary Ukraine, and a call for solidarity.
