Carnegie Hall concert benefits Ukraine

Actor Richard Gere hosted a benefit concert for Ukraine at Carnegie Hall that raised $360,000 for Direct Relief, a humanitarian organization providing medical aid.

Soprano Angel Blue, mezzo-sopranos Denyce Graves and Isabel Leonard, pianist Evgeny Kissin, violinists Midori and Itzhak Perlman, Tony Awardwinner Adrienne Warren,

singer Michael Feinstein, jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, mandolinist Chris Thile and Broadway star Jessica Vosk were among the performers Monday night during a program whose themes included prayer and dreams.

“We recognize their fight as our fight for the right to self-determination, for freedom, for a more just and more secure world based on wisdom and love,” Gere said from the stage.

Ukraine’s first lady,

Olena Zelenska, spoke in a recorded video and Ukraine’s U.N. ambassador,

Sergiy Kyslytsya, spoke in person.

The audience included

Jamala, a Ukrainian singer whose “1944” won the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York sang Ukraine’s national anthem and filled the aisles for the closing number, “Somewhere” from “West Side Story.”

The performance was preceded by about 30 minutes of speeches about the war and the efforts of Ukraine to fend off Russia’s invasion.

“We will do everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything in our power, to defend Ukraine, to defends its people and to defend its culture,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Carnegie Hall intends to raise additional money from streaming the performances.