A
JOURNEY
TO THE COSMOS.
Kyiv. Interstellar.
Here I am.
I can feel them before I've played a single sound — a few thousand people, completely quiet in the dark, waiting for me to begin. They don't know what's coming yet. To be honest, neither do I. I have a plan, but the real night is whatever happens between us.
And they're all in white. I asked for that, and it still takes my breath away. Right now, under the dark lights, they look like a field of snow. But the moment the beams come on, they won't just be an audience anymore. They'll be the light I keep singing about. It's all right there in front of me.
I think about where we are. Not just the room — the city. What this place has been through. There were nights this past year when the sky here was lit by the wrong kind of fire, and people ran toward the danger to help, to dig, to save someone. And tonight, just a few steps from me, some of those same people are standing here in white, waiting for a song. I don't really have the words for what that does to me. The closest one is: don't waste this. Whatever happens up here tonight — don't waste a second of it.
The Moon Portal glows in the middle of the room like a held breath. A doorway into something new. I know how that sounds when you say it in plain daylight. But here, tonight, it just feels true.
We don't run from the darkness. We are the light. I've said those words so many times — and somehow, looking out at all of them, they still mean something. They make them mean something, just by showing up.
Tonight I play new songs too. Euphoria. Music no one here has ever heard. There's always a little fear in that first moment — you made it alone, in a quiet room, and now you're handing it to thousands of people at once. But that's the whole point, isn't it? To step a little past your own edge and see what happens.
My hand is over the first key. The room is holding its breath with me. One more second of darkness — let them feel it all the way to the bottom — because the light only matters if you've stood in the dark first.
And now.
Now we rise.
SCHILLER: INTERSTELLAR | ACT I: MOON in Kyiv
Am 10. Januar 2026 kehrte SCHILLER nach Kyiv zurück, um dort eines der bemerkenswerten Kulturereignisse des neuen Jahres zu präsentieren: INTERSTELLAR | ACT I: MOON, aufgeführt im Pavillon „KIT" auf dem Gelände der VDNG.
Die Veranstaltung war als erstes größeres Ereignis einer geplanten Reihe konzipiert, die das Thema „Reisen durch Raum und Zeit" aufgreift. Inhaltlich ging es um die Idee des Aufbruchs nach einer Phase der Dunkelheit, das Überwinden eigener Grenzen und das gemeinsame Streben nach Licht. Das Leitmotiv des Abends lautete sinngemäß: Wir fliehen nicht vor der Dunkelheit – wir sind das Licht.
Für diesen Auftritt zeigte SCHILLER ein hybrides Live-Set und stellte dem Kyiver Publikum erstmals das neue Album „Euphoria" vor.
Das Konzept war auf ein immersives Erlebnis ausgelegt und umfasste mehrere Elemente:
Moon Portal – ein zentraler Lichttunnel als Symbol für den Übergang in einen neuen Zyklus
Lichtshow – eine eigens für die Veranstaltung entwickelte Lichtkonstruktion
Raumkonzept – eine mehrstufige Inszenierung aus Lichtstrahlen und Klang im dreidimensionalen Raum
Dresscode „Total White Moon" – weiße Kleidung der Gäste als Teil der Lichtinstallation
Die Veranstaltung verfolgte zudem einen wohltätigen Zweck. Die Einnahmen kamen dem dringenden Bedarf in Kyiv zugute und unterstützten Freiwillige, die nach Angriffen als Erste vor Ort sind – beim Beseitigen von Trümmern, bei der Hilfe für Betroffene und beim Wiederaufbau der Stadt.
THE NIGHT KYIV REACHED FOR THE COSMOS
BEHIND THE SCENES
Photos by Eugene Podlesny
The „Interstellar” Team
Created by Tamara VOTUMA
Organization by APLAY
Marketing by Serious & Co. Agency
The Concert film Team
Producer - Ivan Rastov
DOP - Eugene Podlesny
Cameraman 1 - Dmytro Olkhovyk
Cameraman 2 - Nikita Glazyrin
Cameraman 3 - Sasha Chernov
Cameraman 4 - Vitaliy Tolstoy
1stAC - Volodymyr Svernyuk
2ndAC - Dmytro Tykhoniuk
Gaffer - Evgen Denesiuk
Rental company - Patriot rental
Backstage video - Maksym Solodzhuk & Anna Kanarova Drone Operater - Oleksandr Shkurdiuk
Tourmanager - Daniel Christoffel
SCHILLER: INTERSTELLAR | ACT I: MOON in Kyiv
On 10 January 2026, SCHILLER returned to Kyiv to present one of the most remarkable cultural events of the new year: INTERSTELLAR | ACT I: MOON, staged in the „KIT" pavilion on the grounds of the VDNG.
The event was conceived as the first major occasion in a planned series exploring the theme of travelling through space and time. At its core were the ideas of setting out after a period of darkness, overcoming one's own limits, and a shared striving toward the light. The guiding motif of the evening was, in essence: We don't flee from the darkness – we are the light.
For this performance, SCHILLER presented a hybrid live set and introduced the new album „Euphoria" to the Kyiv audience for the first time.
The concept was designed as an immersive experience and comprised several elements:
Moon Portal – a central light tunnel symbolising the passage into a new cycle
Light show – a light construction developed especially for the event
Spatial concept – a multi-layered staging of light beams and sound in three-dimensional space
„Total White Moon" dress code – guests dressed in white as part of the light installation
The event also served a charitable purpose. The proceeds went toward the urgent needs of Kyiv, supporting the volunteers who are first on the scene after attacks – clearing rubble, helping those affected, and standing with the city as it rebuilds.
