MEMBERS of a male voice choir from the troubled Ukraine have been spared military service in their home country to undertake a tour of Britain, including a concert in Malvern.

The Boyan Ensemble, which will be singing at Great Malvern Priory on Saturday, October 17, has visited the town each year for the past 23 years.

The Ukraine is currently embroiled in a conflict with Russian-backed separatists about the future of the Donbass region.

Margarete Rolle, of Albert Road North, who has organised the choir's tours for all that time, said: "There has been serious concern that our singers would be conscripted into the army, but we decided to throw caution to the winds and go ahead with this tour because to cancel it would have caused bitter disappointment on all sides.

“This tour demonstrates that there’s more to Ukraine than bombs and bullets, a worn-out Soviet infrastructure and a bedevilled political system. Whatever its problems, Ukraine has a rich, traditional culture which never fails to impress, and members of Boyan are exemplary ambassadors of this powerful musical heritage.

“There are devastating circumstances facing the nation, the economy is perilously close to default and an economist recently quipped that compared to Ukraine, Greece looks like Switzerland.

"The dire financial situation and austerity measures make life very difficult for the singers who struggle to provide for their families. They are reliant on their government’s funding but this has become tenuous under the circumstances.

"They therefore hope that their British tour will be a big success because it gives them a rare opportunity to earn some real money at a time when their currency has plummeted to disastrous levels, and I beg people to support them."

The 25 professional singers are scheduled to perform 23 concerts in September and October, with a programme of sacred chants that reflect the splendour of the Eastern Orthodox tradition and rich Ukrainian folk songs of joy, humour and heroism, accompanied on instruments unique to their country.

Tickets, at £18 and £16, are available from 01684 575915 or TheMalvernBookshop@gmail.com.