Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

Go East: Pet Shop Boys are headed to Kyiv. flayer.cl The end of November through mid-December will be a busy time in Kyiv for concert goers. Fans can choose from Western pop artists, classical music acts, celebrity deejays and lots more.

Pet Shop Boys, a British pop duet, is going to hit Kyiv’s Sports Palace on Nov. 25. A lot of former Soviet Union citizens are likely to remember their symbolic 1993 single “Go West” (Village People’s cover). The band, however, has many more memorable hits like “It’s a Sin” and “Always on My Mind.” On Dec. 8 Sports Palace will house more “boys” – Backstreet Boys this time. This heart-throbbing quartet sold millions of albums to teenage girls in the late 1990s and beginning of the decade. Now that all the hype around them is well over, Backstreet Boys finally found time to visit their Ukrainian lady fans.

The musical event that’s really to be looked forward to is the Balkan Fest – a two-day festival (Dec. 4-5 at Sports Palace) featuring the very best in Balkan gypsy music: Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Kal and Kocani Orchestra. The fest will also include some non-Balkan acts: American band Gogol Bordello fronted by Ukrainian-born Eugene Hutz and Ukrainian folk rockers, Haydamaky.

Fans of classical music will also get some special treats, like “Stars of La Scala,” playing at Ukraine Palace on Dec. 5. The concert features opera stars from all over Europe: Italian bass singer Girogio Giuseppini, French baritone Franck Ferrari, Kyiv-born Spanish soprano Eteri Lamoris, French tenor Luca Lombardo, Spanish tenor Guillermo Orozco Contreras, German bass Andreas Macco and main conductor of Royal Stockholm Orchestra Mats Liljefors. Another spectacular show is ballet by “Kings of Dance” on Nov. 21 at the Opera and Ballet Theater. The program includes soloists and principal dancers of world’s major ballet troupes: Nikolai Tsiskaridze of Bolshoi Theater (Moscow), Denis Matviyenko of Mariinsky Theater (St. Petersburg), David Hallberg and Marcelo Gomes - both of American Ballet Theatre, and Joaquin de Luz of New York City Ballet. Night owls who love dancing their evenings away, should check out the December program at the International Expo Center. They have Qiev Dance Trance Edition on Dec. 5, Godskitchen Urban Wave on Dec. 12, and Dutch club music star Ferry Corsten on Dec. 19. The latter will present his new show “Twice in a Blue Moon: The Experience.”