‘Soldiers of Song’ documents music in service of war on today’s eastern front

‘Soldiers of Song’ documents music in service of war on today’s eastern front

It’s hard not to be affected by Ryan Smith’s 2024 release, the feature-length documentary Soldiers of Song, which features Ukrainian musicians from concert orchestras and conductors to opera singers, rock bands, and Ukrainian folk ensembles, resisting Russian destruction from land and air. Smith includes many scenes of war, and war’s aftermath in cities and rural areas alike, and features many of the soldiers themselves, civilian volunteers who …