New Brunswick musician Apryll Aileen visited Crimea and Ukraine in 2003 while attending a music conference. Image submitted by Apryll Aileen.
A Saint John musician is watching the situation in Ukraine with concern.
Apryll Aileen attended a conference in Crimea while in high school and visited parts of the country in 2003.
Aileen was being instructed by Ludmila Knezkova-Hussey, a world-renowned concert pianist who studied in Ukraine and now lives in New Brunswick.
“When they asked her to go and teach myself and some other students from New Brunswick, Ludmila said ‘I’d like to give my students the opportunity to come and see what it’s like studying in a different country,'” Aileen said.
Aileen said the people of Ukraine are some of the strongest people in the world who have endured so much.
She wrote a song inspired by the region which she played for her former teacher.
“All the key signatures that I used and the tonalities was actually traditionally Ukrainian. Here’s something that [came about] when I woke up. It was in my dream and I was composing the song,” Aileen said.
Aileen has been in touch with Ukrainian friends all over the world including some in New York and Moncton.
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