North Texas Violinist From Ukraine Inspired To Perform With McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra Saturday
McKINNEY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - As tensions rise in Ukraine as Russian troops continue their violent and deadly invasion, tens of thousands of people are leaving the country.
Others are staying put.
CBS 11 continues to hear personal stories from people in North Texas who have family still in Ukraine.
The melody of a Fort Worth woman's tunes as she plays the violin help illustrate her family's story.
"It's hard when your family, if you don't know if there still or not, but of course you're expressing your feelings," violinist Marina Dichenko said.
Dichenko is a concertmaster who has lived in North Texas for the past 10 years, but she's from Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine.
"We were panicking and shocked... We were just texting each other, calling each other," Dichenko said.
She said at first she didn't believe her hometown was under attack until she spoke with her mother and grandmother who still live there.
She said they were awakened in the middle of the night when they heard what sounded like a bomb going off.
"They cannot go anywhere," Dichenko said. "They're saying they are living in complete horror 24 hours. They sleep sometimes."
She said he grandmother is too old and weak to leave. So now they are doing what they can can.
"They (are) now just focusing on trying to survive," Dichenko said.
She said one of the pieces that inspired her to still perform is John Williams' Schindler's List for solo violin with the McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra while all of this is going on.
"I thought I was going to cancel that, but then I thought okay this is actually, the story and that music is exactly the same story of what's going on now and I thought I had to do it," Dichenko said.
She also is part Russian. Her child's father and her son are also Russian.
She said she is thankful for all the support from everyone and is praying for the safety of her family and friends as the invasion continues.
"We want peace, we do not want that," said.
