I’ve had the good fortune to have music as a constant throughout my life

As a proud Ukrainian kid I chose to learn the domra - a Slavic stringed instrument - together with the piano. The Ukrainian domra has 4 strings tuned in the same way as a violin, and it is strummed or picked like a guitar. I spent many years as a principal performer of a popular Ukrainian domra orchestra ‘Lik Domer’, well-known for its spirited and dramatic performances.

Studying at the same time, I completed my BA in Donetsk before being drawn to the Kyiv National Conservatory, the country’s most prestigious music institution for further postgraduate studies.

Like my friends and loved ones I experienced a profound sense of shock and bewilderment at the events that unfolded in February 2022. My escape took me to Berlin and then finally London, a city of extraordinary artistic expression that has exceeded my already high expectations.

My musical life that grew in the fertile ground of home has, through the rupture of war, found a new place thrive: in London, my new adopted city.