Would you like to be a part of Anna’s next composition? She’ll be writing a set of little pieces – inventions – for the fabulous pianist Anna Sagalova, who was forced to flee Ukraine due to russia’s aggression. The commissioner of this work Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, has already received 50% of the commissioning fee from the SOCAN Foundation. We are raising the other 50% from curious folks like you! Enjoy eternal fame by getting your name in the score, get a signed copy of the score or even get one of the inventions dedicated to you or your loved one.

Here’s how it works:

$45 or more: Connoisseur
In addition to the Supporter benefits, enjoy a glass of wine and snacks at the post-concert reception on October 5 at the Holy Eucharist Cathedral in New Westminster, BC, where you can interact with the musicians and view artwork by Ukrainian artists.

$125 or more: Music Lover
In addition to the Connoisseur benefits, you will receive a signed copy of the complete musical score when we premiere the entire piece in February 2025.

$300 or more: Patron (only 6 of 8 left!)
In addition to the Music Lover benefits, you’ll get your name next to one of the pieces in the collection as its commissioner and influence the composition. Choose an occupied region of Ukraine that is particularly dear to you and Anna Pidgorna will work with a folk melody from that region in her original composition. Choose a person or group to whom you want to dedicate the work. The piece will have a dedication like this under the title: “Dedicated to [name] with generous support by [name] with inspiration from [region].”

How to donate:

1. Join us in person at the our fundraising concert on November 9 at the Canadian Music Centre BC in downtown Vancouver: https://www.eventbrite.ca/…/inventions-of-hope…

OR

2. Can’t make it to the concert? Simply donate through the Eventbrite page by entering any amount in the “Donation” option: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/inventions-of-hope-fundraiser-for-ukrainian-music-and-medicine-tickets-1022172524537

Happy to announce that the brand new updated score for my piece “The Child, Bringer of Light” (cello version) is now available from my publisher Oxingale! I completed this work in 2012 for the young composers’ and string players’ workshop with Kaija Saariaho and Anssi Karttunen, hosted by Carnegie Hall in New York. I had a great time working on the piece with cellist Paul Dwyer under their guidance.

This work is really important to me as it was the first time I really felt that I was truly saying something that was 100% me, even though so much of the creative process was influenced by my study of Kaija’s cello pieces. There was some magical combination of authenticity of emotional expression and satisfaction with the technical aspects of the composition process.

The work has had a busy life since that workshop. It’s been performed multiple times by cellists Rachel Mercer, Dobrochna Zubek and Ian Woodman. I made a viola transcription for Claire Poillion, which was taken up and recorded by Marina Thibeault, who has performed it at many concerts. Other violists have reached out to be after hearing Marina’s recording. I made a violin transcription for Ilana Waniuk, which was recently performed in Vancouver by young violinist Jack Campbell. So I’m very proud of this particular musical child.

I am happy to announce that my music is now published by Oxingale Music. We are slowly editing scores and adding them to the catalogue. All inquiries about score purchase and rentals should go to Oxingale. If you are interested in purchasing something not currently in the catalogue, reach out to the publisher anyway and we’ll try to make it happen.

A couple of years ago, while taking a class on Irish orality taught by renowned sean nós singer Iarla Ó Lionáird, I received an email asking me if I was interested in writing a set of art songs based on Irish poetry. It was a beautiful coincidence and of course, I was delighted! The Irish Song Project lead by Dáirine Ní Mheadhra and Pauline Ashwood commissioned a total of 50 songs from Irish and international composers with the aim of increasing the number of art songs in the Irish language. For various complex political and historical reasons, Irish tends to be associated with oral folk traditions while the classical world, even in Ireland, is dominated by English. The project was funded by the Irish Arts Council. All the scores and recordings are now available for use free of charge on a website hosted by the Irish Contemporary Music Centre. The texts are accompanied by IPA and word-for-ward translations, as well as poetry readings.

Because of my interest in lamentation traditions, I chose excerpts from three keening texts to set for soprano and piano. “Eileen’s Lament” is based on excerpts from the most famous of Irish laments composed by Eibhlín (Eileen) Dubh Ní Chonaill upon the death of her young husband, Art Ó Laoghaire. What I chose to focus on are the young widow’s ruminations about her husband’s erotic appeal, the luxurious life they shared, as well as his quick temper, which she sometimes had to navigate. “Mother’s Lament” draws on excerpts from a larger lament composed by the mother of Diarmaid MacCarthy upon his death, which also includes several verses lamenting her daughter Máire, who was severely abused by her husband. “Joking Lament” is a setting of several verses from a mock lament, written from the point of view of a woman who is ecstatic at the death of her abusive and miserly husband.

The scores and recordings can be found here and are available for use according to the Creative Commons license.

October 3rd will be a first for me: my music will be performed in two countries located on different continents on the same day. In Toronto, Canada there will be the premiere of The Three Woes for three trumpets and string orchestra at Top Brass presented by Soundstreams. Earlier the same day, Ilana Waniuk will play the new violin version of The Child, Bringer of Light in Selianitika, Greece. And just a few days ago, Wild Shore New Music and Cipher duo premiered Lullabies for my unborn children while on tour in Alaska, USA. I feel like a pretty lucky duck all around.

I am currently in Toronto – feeling very giddy and under slept from all the time-zone travel – getting ready for the premiere of my latest work The Three Woes for three trumpets and string orchestra commissioned by Soundstreams for their Top Brass concert happening on October 3. The work will be performed by three world-renowned trumpet soloists, Ingrid Jensen, Jens Lindemann and Ole Edvard Antonsen, and a string orchestra conducted by Joaquin Valdepeñas. I am, understandably, quite elated.

The work is quite unusual for me in terms of subject matter. I tend to write things that are intensely personal, fussing endlessly tiny details performed by small ensembles, but for this piece I turned to the end of the world prophesy from the Book of Revelations. Since I wasn’t raised Christian (or with any religion at all), this prophesy, with all its highly imaginative horrors, initially read as delightful mythology to me. Flying locusts with lion heads and scorpion tails! Blood soaked oceans! Armies of 200 million led by rogue angels! It all seemed kind of cute and sensationalist in its extravagance, that is until I started noticing the eery parallels between the catastrophes the prophesy promised and the current and predicted effects of climate change. With its creative metaphors, the prophesy is actually describing what is happening to us. The piece became rather unsettling once this thought invaded my brain…

The concert also features premieres from Heather Schmidt and Brian Current. Heather will be playing in her own double concerto, and Brian is responding to R. Murray Schafer’s Trumpet Aubade (also on the program). I am honoured to be in their company and to be working with such incredible players.

You can read more about this piece and the concert as a whole in one of these delightful articles:

The Whole Note: https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/newsroom/feature-stories/29527-soundstreams-and-the-trumpets-of-october

Ludwig Van Toronto: https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2019/09/30/interview-fresh-views-anna-pidgorna-heather-schmidt-ingrid-jensen-soundstreams-top-brass/

I am traveling around Alaska for the next ten days with the Wild Shore Festival, stopping in Anchorage, Talkeetna, Kenai and Homer. Wild Shore commissioned a brand new piece from me for the combined forces of Wild Shore Trio (Katie Cox, flute, Andie Springer, violin, Mary Kouyoumdjian, piano) and Cipher Duo (Justine Aronson, soprano, Sarah Goldfeather, violin). Lullabies for my unborn children is a set of songs which explore my complex maternal feelings in all their tender and painful shades. We are also performing my violin duo Through closed doors, notated on an antique door (unfortunately, the door itself was too difficult too ship) and Keening, a quartet originally commissioned by UltraViolet Ensemble and rearranged especially for this festival. There will also be works by Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram and Kate Soper.

09/22/2019, 7:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
Sheldon Community Arts Hangar
Talkeetna, AK 99676
Tickets: $15 suggested donation

09/26/2019, 6:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
Kenai Fine Art Center
​816 Cook Ave., Kenai, AK 99611
Tickets: Free! General Admission

09/28/2019, 7:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
Bunnell Street Arts Center
106 W. Bunnell Ave., Homer, AK 99603
Tickets: Purchase here

09/29/2019, 7:30pm – CIPHER Duo + Wild Shore Trio play music by Anna Pidgorna, Sarah Goldfeather, Kamala Sankaram, & Kate Soper.
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508
Tickets: Free! General Admission