A rising star of Ukrainian music will perform in a benefit concert for Ukraine in the Tindle Studio at the Farnham Maltings on September 9 at 7.30pm.

Highly-talented bandura player and singer Mariia Petrovska is expected to impress with angelic vocals and virtuoso playing in her Surrey debut.

The bandura is a traditional Ukrainian folk instrument which is a hybrid of the zither and lute. It has a large number of strings typically played by plucking.

Early versions had between five and 12 strings but modern concert banduras can have between 56 and 68 strings.

Mariia came to live and study in the UK after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and continues to use her music as a voice for Ukraine.

Proceeds from the concert will be donated to charities supporting Ukrainian people in the UK and Ukraine.

The concert has been organised by Folk Inspiration, which stages live folk music events in the Farnham and Guildford areas on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of musicians, local charities and the local community.

A spokesperson for Folk Inspiration said: “Folk Inspiration grew out of our love of folk music. It is music for sharing with friends, for dancing to. It is also music that lives through being handed on. That is how it develops and grows, inspiring new generations of talented performers.”

Jo Hughes, the founder of Folk Inspiration, said: “Mariia’s complete mastery of the bandura, a traditional Ukrainian instrument, combined with her pure, emotive voice, is utterly breathtaking.

“Mariia is rapidly finding a new audience for the bandura far beyond its Ukrainian home and it’s a dream come true that she can perform in Farnham, a town that has opened its heart to many Ukrainians seeking refuge from the war.”

Mariia Petrovska won multiple all-Ukrainian and international bandurist competitions in Ukraine and is studying songwriting and performance at the British Irish Modern Music University in Manchester.

She leads volunteer organisation People’s Territory of Happiness and is a major contributor to the Cultural Forces programme.

Mariia went to the east of Ukraine in the summer of 2023, close to the war zone, to perform for Ukrainian defenders. and also featured in a fundraising video which went viral on YouTube.

In 2023 she played on the stage of the Eurovision Village in Liverpool and recorded a song for a BBC news broadcast about Ukraine. Mariia has a YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/@mariampetrovska

Folk Inspiration is running the concert as a partnership event with Invisible Visible, a new exhibition by Ukrainian photographer Natalia Sharomova and the Ukrainian Art Group based at the art for well-being charity Creative Response.

The exhibition will open in the Foyer Gallery at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham at the beginning of September.

Tickets for the concert, which is one hour and 50 minutes long including the interval, cost £19.51 (£15.18 for under-25s). Under-16s must be accompanied by an adult ticket holder, and tickets are available at www.folkinspiration.org or by emailing [email protected]